


Clarke Griffins Christmas Inheritance

by Kielena



Category: Christmas Inheritance (2017), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Clexa, Clexa Endgame, F/F, F/M, Finn Bashing, Fluff and Humor, Party Girl Griffin, Protective Gustus, gustus is a teddy bear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-02-17 06:17:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 27,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13070874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kielena/pseuds/Kielena
Summary: In order to inherit her Mothers Company, Party Girl Clarke Griffin must first visit her mothers home town, where she meets the mysterious Lexa Woods and learns the value of hard work and helping others.A Clexa rewrite of Christmas Inheritance.





	1. Have you seen Miss Griffin?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so go easy on me. I watched The Christmas inheritance with Eliza Taylor and couldn't help thinking it would be so much better if Lexa was playing her love interest and lets face it, we need more woman loving woman Christmas Stories, So here is the clexa adapted version.

The Christmas party was in full swing, everyone was having a great time, well everyone except Dianna Sydney. Bustling through the crowd looking for any sign of the infamous heiress… it had been a most stressful evening trying to keep track of the girl. She looked down at her watch again, the girl was late. Her speech due no less than 10 minutes ago, and she was still nowhere to be seen. Dianna decided to go on the offensive, find the girl and drag her to the stage if necessary. Approaching the nearest couple she asked. “Have you seen Miss Griffin? No?”

“No” The elderly couple replied, going back to their conversation.

“I’m looking for Miss Griffin have you seen her?” She tried again, this time to a younger couple, hoping for more luck with them.

“No Sorry” The young couple politely replied.

Looking around she saw a woman with blonde hair deep in conversation. “Hi! Uh miss Griffin?” she asked as she spun the girl around.

“No” The blonde responded staring back at her in confusion. 

“I am so sorry!” she apologised profusely before moving on quickly after spotting a young gentleman with floppy hair and an heir of arrogance that she quickly recognised as the heiresses fiance.

“Mr Collins! Excuse me, Mister Collins?” She all but shouted as she tried to catch his attention.

“Yeah, just give me one second” he said as he waved her off, focusing back on the phone call he was on. “Uh, huh, where were we…” he continued, his attention back on the call.

“I’m Dianna Sydney, Chair of the toys for tots committee?” She tried again, this time getting right up in his face.

“Yeah, just… just… let me finish this up here.” Turning his back on the woman trying to keep his attention only to find her back in his face again two seconds later.

“Miss Griffin is representing the Home and Hearth Gifts Company at this event, is she not?” Mrs Sydney continued with more force.

“She certainly is. Almost done here.” Mr Collins replied with a huff of annoyance.

Not one to be deterred, Dianna Sydney continued “Well, she was supposed to do her presentation 20 minutes ago! I-I-I can’t find her anywhere!”

“Yes! Now that’s how we close it!” Mr Collins shouted, with a fist bump in the air. He hung up his phone and looked at the irate woman in front of him, as if only noticing her now for the first time. “I’m sorry, hi. What was it you wanted?”

Losing her cool Dianna stomped her foot and screeched “Mr Collins, where is your fiancé!?”

 

########################################################

 

Across the room over by the gift table a certain Clarke Griffin was in the middle of a complicated gymnastic manoeuvre that should simply not be possible in the beautiful red evening gown she wore. She stuck the landing, and turned to the gentleman standing on the side-line. Her long-time friend John Murphy.

“Alright Griffin! Ten out of ten from the Russian judge.” Murphy shouted as he held up a napkin that he had hastily scribbled the marks on.

“Thank you. Thank you. Years of gymnastics not easily forgotten” She replied whist taking a deep exaggerated bow to the growing crowd of onlookers. “Oh, thank you.” She smiled widely looking down at the cheque Murphy had just signed and held in front of her.

“For my favourite charity” he smiled.

“Toys for tots thanks you for your generosity.” She laughed as she grabbed the cheque.

Murphy just laughed at his friend. It had been too easy to dare her into doing the gymnastic combo across the dance floor for a rather sizable donation. Looking around he spotted the gift table across the room. Suddenly he had a spark of brilliance… or deviance… “I’ll double it if you can vault that” He challenged as he pointed out the table.

“Oh forget it” Clarke laughed at the challenge. There was a line. Gymnastics across the dance floor was one thing, but there was a line and she was not going to cross it.

“Chicken?” Murphey challenged with a smirk, knowing it would get under her skin. “I’ll quadruple it! That’s a lot of toys for a lot of tots.” He grinned at her, waiting… he knew he had her. Clarke ‘Party Girl Griffin’ was not someone to back down from a dare. “Come on Clarke”

Who was Clarke kidding, lines were meant to be crossed. Besides she couldn’t let Murphy get away with calling her a chicken, and how could she turn down such an outrageous amount of money for the Tots? Yes… this was for the Tots!

“Fine. But I want that cheque immediately.” She grinned as she started walking backwards to line up for the jump.

“I’ll write it now.” Murphy said as he took out his cheque book. Money meant nothing to him, but watching Griffin jump through hoops for him… that was priceless.

As Clarke lined up and started running at the table a very irate Dianna Sydney marched across the room after finally spotting the infamous Clarke Griffin. “Miss Griffin!” She screamed, but it was too late, Clarke had already built up momentum and was fast approaching the gift table, piled high with gifts donated for the Toys for Tots foundation that had been placed in front of the giant beautiful Christmas tree. She launched herself, hands landing smoothly on the table, she vaulted herself over making a clean jump and landing on her feet. However she had built up too much momentum and stumbled back on landing… straight into the Christmas tree, and as the saying goes, ‘the bigger they are the harder they fall’ she crashed into the tree and both went flying. Decorations flew everywhere, and Clarke Griffin was a mess of limbs as she tried to get up off the tree only to slip and fall again smashing more decorations on her way down. That was when she noticed all the camera flashes… This was bad…. Her mother was going to be pissed! Clarke then looked up to see a shocked Dianna Sydney staring down at her in shock. There was only one thing to say….

“Oh, Ah….. Merry Christmas?”


	2. Abby Griffin is not happy...

Abigail Griffin was having a bad day. It had started off alright, but quickly soured when she sat down to read the newspaper over breakfast. The head line and accompanying picture was not something she was happy to see and had her heading into the office early that morning to do damage control.

As she made her way down the hallway to her office, newspaper in hand she glanced down at the headline once more, sighing at the picture of her daughter lying amongst a mangled tree and broken decorations, a mess of limbs. ‘Party Heiress crashes Christmas Ball’ the headline read. She shook her head in disbelief, how had her daughter ended up in this mess? The evening was supposed to have been fool proof, all Clarke had to do was make an appearance and say a short speech, this was to have been a stepping stone to further responsibilities, but now she wasn’t so sure.

As Abby turned the corner into the office waiting area she heard Jackson her assistant reading the news regarding her daughter out loud to his fellow staff members.   
“…socialite Clarke Griffin heiress to the Home and Hearth gifts retail fortune, was up to the very same hijinks that gained her the “Party girl Griffin” nickname to begin with…” Jackson cut off after looking up to see his boss staring at him in disapproval.

“Jackson, is my daughter in her office yet?” Abby asked while heading towards her office.

“No, she is in the boardroom. Mam, shall I get her?” Jackson asked as he trailed after Abby.

“No, I will get her.” Abby replied, changing direction and heading straight to the boardroom, leaving Jackson to standing in the hallway to watch on as Abby went to confront her daughter. Jackson couldn’t help but wonder how Clarke was going to get out of this one.

Abby stormed into the boardroom only to find her daughter looking over various design templates and acting as if there was nothing amiss.

“Hey!” Clarke greeted Abby with a smile, looking back down at the templates in front of her “Now, I have been thinking. I think it’s time for a snappier snag line. “The home of the heartfelt gifts”? It’s a little old school don’t you think?”

“Right now, this is the only tag line I’m interested in.” Abby cried as she held up the newspaper.

“Oh.” Clarke pursed her lips as looked up guiltily at her mother.

“Yeah Oh! I just spent an hour on the phone with Dianna Sydney… talking her off a ledge!” Abby replied sternly

“It was for charity. Murphy ‘dared’ me…” Clarke tried to reason.

Abby huffed, unable to believe what she was hearing. “Murphy ‘dared’ you? How old are you! 12? Clarke, when you are out in public you are an ambassador for this company. And once you are CEO, you will be the face of this company!”

Clarke perked up at once, hearing the word CEO. “So… you’ve made up your mind… about retiring?”

“I thought I had.” Abby replied, “But now I’m not certain that I dare! I need to leave this place in the hands of someone I can trust and right now that’s not you!”

“I’m sorry” Clarke apologised.

“You can do better than this. You have to do better than this. Please, for all our sakes.” Abby pleaded, sounding totally resigned. 

####################################################

Later that day Abby sat in her office discussing the currant problem with her assistant. “I don’t know Jackson, maybe it’s my fault.” Abby reasoned. “You know, after Jake died, I… let Clarke get away with too much. You know, to make up for it. You think I… spoiled her a bit?” Abby asked him uncertainly 

“No! Of course not, I mean doesn’t every kid get a Ferrari for Christmas?” Jackson replied sarcastically.

“Ha-ha very funny” Abby smirked at Jackson as he shuffled through his diary checking off items already discussed.

Looking down at the bottom of the page, Jackson suddenly perked up. “I almost forgot… the most important thing… It’s your turn to write the Christmas letter.” 

“Oh” Abby replied, looking a little lost in her own world.

“Have you given any thought to what you’re going to write in your letter this year?” Jackson enquired only to be cut off by a very bubbly Clarke as she all but bounced into the office.

“Hey Mom. I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch?” Clarke enquired giving Jackson an apologetic smile for cutting into their conversation.

“Sweetie, I’m sorry, but I’ve got a conference call at one o’clock.” Abby apologised.

“I’ll move that to 3, she is all yours.” Jackson responded with a smile on his face.

“Really? Great!” Clarke rejoiced happily

##########################################################

Abigail and Clarke Griffin were sitting in a fancy restaurant, eating their salads when Clarke finally cracked.

“Mom, I’m really sorry” Clarke apologised genuinely

“No. Look… Clarke it’s not just you. It-it’s on me too, I gave you too much to handle.” Abby admitted.

Clarke tried again, “Look. I want to do more than just apologise. I want to… do something to… to make this right.”

“Honey, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Abby tried to reason, wondering if this was Clarke acting out because she didn’t want to inherit the family business.

“I do though. For you. For the Company… For Dad. And for Me. I want to prove to you that I’m not… just ‘a party girl’, that I can take charge.” Clarke promised.

“Okay, Great.” Abby replied feeling a little happier now that her daughter sounded more involved.

“Cool.” Clarke smiled.

“So, what did you have in Mind?” Abby enquired.

“Well, I’m…. I haven’t really figured anything out yet, but… uh… Oh! What if I did another fundraiser for toys for tots? Maybe, Like, uh… uh… I don’t know. Oh, Valentine’s Day! We could do a big flashy party and I could get the press involved…” Clarke rambled excitedly.

“Clarke, sweetie uh… See, the thing is your worrying about our public image” Abby reasoned 

“Yep” Clarke confirmed

“Which is great, you know, I mean I do too. But… the thing that I think you need to learn a little something about is… is the spirit of the company, which is really all about the people who buy our gifts.” Abby tried to explain.

“Right”

“Ordinary people who lead very different lives than you or I.” Abby continued

“Mm-hmm yeah I hear you.” Clarke nodded 

“Most of our buyers, they are small-town folks. You know they-” Abby trailed off as an insane thought suddenly came to her.

“Oh! Wait a second. I think I just figured it out… what you can do.” Abby smiled excitedly

“Really?” Clarke asked.

“Yeah” Abby confirmed

“What?” Clarke asked beginning to get nervous.

“I need you to take a trip for me. A business trip.” Abby smiled

“Okay” Clarke agreed

“I need you to deliver the Christmas letters to aunt Indra.” Abby announced with a grin

“You… you want me to go to Snow Falls?” Clarke clarified nervously.

“Mh-hmm, it’s my turn to deliver the letters this year but… I think you should go instead. You know, see where it all began.” Abby was beside herself! This was brilliant, this is how she was going to get through to her daughter.

Taking a deep breath Clarke looked up at her mother and answered…

“Okay… when do I leave?”


	3. The Rules

“Tonight? Really? You’re kidding?” Finn asked in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Clarke couldn’t be serious.

“It’s not a big deal, babe.” Clarke replied as she held up two similar looking dresses, trying to decide which on to pack.

“Yeah, but what about Maui? I mean those tickets are non-refundable!” Finn tried to reason.

“We don’t leave till Christmas Eve. I’ll be back in plenty of time.”

“And you gotta do this whole trip on 100 bucks and a round trip ticket?” He asked in uncertainty.

“I can do it!” Clarke said with confidence. “I’ve already got somewhere to stay, my aunt Indra owns this wonderful Inn up there. It’s really cool.”

“Yeah, but why just 100 bucks?” Finn couldn’t understand why someone as rich as the Griffin family would limit themselves.

“Because that’s all aunt Indra and mom had when they started out.” Clarke replied with a little nostalgia, thinking about just how far her mom and aunt Indra have come.

“Ugh.” Finn sneered in annoyance. 

“Come on. I think this is a cute idea.” Clarke replied enthusiastically.

“Okay, and if you do this uh “Challenge”, you get to run the whole outfit?” Finn confirmed, already picturing his life engaged to the CEO of a Multi-million dollar company.

“Okay don’t make this sound like a gangster movie.” Clarke grinned, “But yes.”

“A hundred bucks is not a lot of money.” He responded, knowing his fiancé had expensive taste. “You better take your credit cards.” 

“I can’t. It’s part of the rules.” 

Finn laughed at that, “That’s insane.”

“Besides, all my cards have my name on them.” Clarke explained.

“Yeah, So what?”

“That’s another part of the deal. See people treat you a little bit differently when they know that you are inheriting a multi-million dollar company, so I have to go incognito.” She replied voice taking on a different timber as if trying to pull off an accent.

“Baby… why are you doing this to yourself?” Finn sniggered, knowing there was no ways his fiancé could pull this off.

“Because…” Clarke turned serious. “I’m tired of people seeing me as some dumb rich kid. I want to prove to my mother and to myself, that… that I can take care of things on my own. And that I’m not just “Party girl Griffin!”

“Uh, Oh, Yeah that’s…” Finn breathed in defeat, seeing he wasn’t getting anywhere he turned to the wooden box with intricate carvings on it. Gesturing to it he asked “So what’s all this about anyway?”

“The Christmas letters?” Clarke asked in a slightly childlike awe.

“Yeah.”

“Have a look at the greeting card on the back. It’s the original business plan for Home & Hearth gifts.” Clarke explained excitedly walking over to the card and running her fingers over it, staring at the scribbles on the back of the card. “When my aunt Indra and mom came up with the idea, they just grabbed the nearest thing and wrote it down.” Clarke loved looking at that card. Thinking about how the entire Home & Hearth Empire all began with that single Christmas card.

“What about all these letters?” He asked in feigned interest.

“Well, every Christmas they write to each other, like a… a sort of newsletter to say what happened that year, good or bad.” Clarke explained with a small smile.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just you know, send an email?” 

“Look at the dates. Some of those letters go way back before email.” Clarke said was getting nostalgic again. “Anyway the whole point is that they’re forced to get together every Christmas. It’s like a company tradition.”

“Anyway…” Finn was quickly losing interest in this sentimental crap, it made no sense! Why waste money and time writing letters and hand delivering them when you could get your assistant to pop off an email and be done with it?

“Yeah,” Clarke zipped up her bag and looked down at her watch to check the time. “We should get going, the traffic to the airport’s probably crazy right now.”

Finn looked down at the ticket in his hand to check which terminal he had to drop his fiancé off at and did a double take, rereading a third time just to make sure, before he burst out laughing and looked up at Clarke. “Uh did you take a look at the ticket your mother gave you?” Already knowing the answer.

“No, why?” Clarke asked in confusion.

“Well, let’s just say we won’t have to worry about airport Traffic…”


	4. A Bus?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last chapter without Lexa! I know, it felt like she was never going to get here, but fear not Clarke will be meeting the mysterious and gorgeous Lexa in the next chapter.

The Port Authority bus terminal was chaos! People were running around with their luggage trying to get home for the holidays. Clarke couldn’t believe her mother was making her take the bus, Clarke had never taken a bus in her life. She was a first class kind of girl, she wouldn’t know the first thing about taking the bus. 

“Here you go.” Abby smiled as she handed over an envelope to Clarke, watching her open it up to see only a single $100 bill inside. “Okay, remember this only works if nobody knows who you are.” Abby gently reminded Clarke of the rules.

“Got it.” Clarke nodded.

“Right um…. Well say hi to Indra for me.” Abby requested as she gave her daughter a worried hug, suddenly wondering if she was doing the right thing.

“I will, and don’t worry about me okay? I can take care of myself.” Clarke tried to calm her mother, though in truth she was trying to convince herself as well before she turned around and promptly tripped over her luggage. “I can!” She tried again a little more confidently after righting herself, seeing the unconvinced look she received from her mother.

“Yeah” Abby nodded, knowing even though she was worried about her klutz of a daughter that this was something Clarke had to do.

“Right well I’m off” Clarke said as she started walking backwards towards her bus.

“Oh, Clarke?” Abby called after her, suddenly remembering something. “You’re a Credit cards?”

“Oh right!” Clarke laughed absentmindedly, opening her purse and placing the stack of cards into her mother’s waiting hand. 

“Thank you” Abby smiled as she sifted through the cards.

“Okay” Clarke said as she once again tried to make a break for it. 

“The Platinum?” Abby called after her and saw her daughter turn guiltily back to her and reach into her Bra where she had hidden it. “Nice try kiddo!” Abby laughed as Clarke groaned and handed over her only remaining tie to her fortune.

“Bye Mom.”

“Bon voyage Clarke. I Love you.” Abby just shook her head and chuckled to herself as she watched her daughter walk away struggling to pull her 3 suitcases along knowing that this was certainly going to be an adventure for her daughter.

 

Clarke looked around uncertainly trying to figure out where she was supposed to check her luggage in. Seeing a big sweaty man throwing bags into the side of the open bus Clarke hesitantly approached him. “Hi there, is this baggage Check?”

Thelonious was having a crap day, he was running late and his back was breaking. Everyone’s bags were always heavier over the Christmas period and everyone was so freaking jolly! Looking up at the rich county club princess standing in front of him he paused to take a moment and process what she was actually asking. He looked between her and the bus “Sure I guess.”

“Great! There are a couple of delicate items in here if you could just make sure they don’t bounce around too much.” Clarke asked in a sweet voice as she handed over the luggage.

“Yeah Got it.” He replied sarcastically.

“Thank you!” She replied happily, proud of herself for finding the right bus and checking her luggage in all by herself.

As Clarke walked away she didn’t notice that way that Thelonious threw her case in the back of the truck a little harder than necessary.

Clarke made her way onto the bus, looking down at her ticket she tried to find her seat number, not finding any she started making her way down the aisle looking for an open seat or seat numbers on the actual seats themselves.

“I’m sorry, Oh! Oh excuse me, Sorry….” Clarke apologised as she shuffled down the aisle. “Whoop!” She cried as she tripped, landing in an open seat next to a kind looking lady.

“Careful there hun!” The lady cried as she tried to help Clarke get back to her feet.

“Uh, I’m sorry.” Clarke apologised as she got back to her feet. “I’m just… I’m trying to find my seat, but I… I can’t see any seat numbers.” 

“Well that’s because there aren’t any.” The lady chuckled.

“Well how do you know where to sit?” Clarke asked in confusion.

“I don’t know… you just… sit.” She replied in confusion.

“Well…” Clarke look up and down the aisle looking for a free spot to sit.

“Oh, here.” The lady cleared her knitting off the seat next to her and offered it to Clarke.

“Thank you!” Clarke sighed in relief.

Clarke sat down and got her settled in before she started looking above her on the roof.

“Are you looking for something?” the lady asked.

“The call button.” Clarke replied as if it was obvious.

“The what?”

“The call button? You know, for the attendant? I could really use a glass of wine!” Clarke clarified.

“You don’t ride the bus much, do you?” the lady giggled.

“Just between you and me, it’s my first time.” Clarke whispered as she lent in to the woman’s side.

“No!” The woman replied in feigned shock.

“Yup!” Clarke replied not catching on to the sarcasm.

“Well I’m an old hand at it.” The lady decided to take pity on the young girl and help her out. Holding out her hand she decided to introduce herself. “Callie, Cally Cartwig.”

“I’m Clarke Grif… uh nevermind.”

“Nice to meet you Clarke.”


	5. Watch your step...

Clarke had to admit the trip hadn’t been terrible and she had loved the beautiful scenery they had driven through, but as they approached Snow Falls the excitement grew in her belly. This was going to be easy. All she had to do was spend a night in this middle of nowhere little town, hand over the letters to Indra and by this time tomorrow she would be back home with Finn packing for her trip to Maui and well on her way to being named the new CEO of Home & Hearth Gifts come the new year.

Clarke was broken out of her daze by the bus stopping and those who were visiting Snow Falls all standing up and making their way to the exit. She turned to Callie and thanked her for keeping her company on the bus ride and wished her a Merry Christmas before making her way down the aisle and stepping off the bus… right into a pile of snow. Clarke was suddenly regretting the high heels she had chosen to wear on the trip, but before she could think more of it she got distracted by Christmas Carollers merrily singing away a little further down the street. They looked so happy considering they were standing in the freezing snow singing for donations.

“Miss!” The bus driver called after the retreating Clarke.

“Sorry, Sorry I’m still half asleep.” Clarke apologised to the driver for wondering off. She took out her purse to tip the driver for offloading her bags and only found the $100 bill in it, she looked up apologetically “Uh, thank you very much… You don’t have change for $100…?”

The driver just shook his head in frustration “It’s alright.” He waved her off. “Have a merry Christmas.” He added a little grumpily.

“I’m sorry.” Clarke apologised again. “Merry Christmas!” she shouted after his retreating figure.

Once the bus had driven away Clarke took the time to take in her surroundings. It was a quaint little town… Clarke already couldn’t wait to leave. She walked up to her bags to move them on to the sidewalk so she could hail a taxi. As she approached her bags she slid on a patch of ice. If she had been wearing sensible shoes she may have been able to save herself, but the high heels she wore made it impossible for her to get her balance and instead she careened full force into her bags sending the largest one flying across the ice and into the middle of the road, right into an oncoming taxi.

“Hey be careful! Watch out!!!” Clarke screamed at the taxi as it slammed on brakes, but it was too late, the taxi hit the bag and sent it airborne, Clarke's clothes flying all over the place. “Ugh. Oh God!” Clarke cried as she saw what remained of her case and all her belongings littering the street.

“Are you crazy, what are you trying to do? Cause an accident?” An angry voice shouted followed by a slamming door.

Clarke ran up to her smashed suitcase taking in the damage and trying to pick up her clothes. She glanced up to see the irate driver stomping towards her in anger.  
“You hit my suitcase!” Clarke screeched at the woman.

“Well what the hell is your suitcase doing in the middle of the road?” The woman bellowed.

“Well I slid on the ice and crashed into my bags” Clarke explained.

“Yeah big surprise there” the woman responded sarcastically as she gestured down at the heels the blonde was wearing. She was lucky she hadn’t broken her neck.

“Ugh you destroyed my bag!”

“Yeah don’t worry I’m safe thanks.” The woman growled sarcastically “My life wasn’t in danger because of your runaway suitcase or anything!”

“I’m sorry, it’s just that I just got here and now my bag is ruined…” Clarke apologised, realising she couldn’t blame the driver. She looked up at the woman properly for the first time. She was a tall stern looking brunette with the most amazing green eyes she had ever seen.

The brunette looked down into beautiful blue eyes and she faltered for a second. There was no ways she could have missed the bag as it shot into the middle of the road, so in her eyes the blonde was in the wrong, but seeing the poor miserable girl squatting in the snow trying to gather up her ruined clothes she felt a little guilty and she decided the least she could do was help. “Let me help you…” She bent down to help pick up the clothes and grabbed the first item she saw but found resistance when she pulled on it, looking up she noticed they had both grabbed the same item and were in a tug of war position. She quickly dropped the item in her hand when she realised it was in fact the woman’s black negligee. Deciding that maybe it was better to let the blonde pick up her own clothes she decided to try help another way. “You need a cab?” she asked as she gestured to the cab she had been driving.

“Not from you, thank you.” Clarke scoffed “I will wait.”

The brunette laughed “Well you might be waiting a real long time, this is a one-taxi kind of town.”

“Well fine. I’ll just… I’ll Uber.” Clarke responded as she took out her phone to order an Uber.

“Yeah… Nope.” The brunette grinned.

“Lyft?” Clarke tried as a last resort.

“Might as well be speaking a foreign language. Besides, we are not so good at cell reception here either.” The brunette replied, clearly enjoying herself now as she smirked at the blonde.

“That’s great! Ugh!” Clarke grumbled already hating this two horse town.

Taking sympathy on the girl the tall woman tried again. “Look. Why don’t you hop in? It’s on the house, it’s the least I can do after…” The woman gestured at the chaos that used to be Clarke's bag. “Trust me, I am your best option right now.” She added as she pointed out the snow that had started falling.

 

The car ride was awkward. Clarke was looking out the window taking in the town as they headed towards the Inn.  
“So, you’re from New York?” The brunette stated glancing at the attire the blonde was wearing. Clearly she had no idea how to dress for the weather, going for a fashion as opposed to something more practical.

“Yeah. How’d you know?” Clarke asked in confusion.

“Ah, you just got that look.” The woman smirked.

“What look?” 

“Uh, just…. You were on the second bus of the day. And the second bus of the day is New York.” The woman backtracked.

“Have you ever been?” Clarke asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been.” The woman grumbled, tightening her grip on the steering wheel.

“And what did you think?” Clarke asked excitedly.

“Came back here didn’t I?” She replied dryly as she pulled up to the Inn. “Okay here we are.”

“Oh, thanks for the ride.” Clarke was a little surprised how quickly they had arrived. She got out the cab and made her way to the boot to grab her bags. She rolled her two small bags up to the reception desk, leaving the other woman to carry the destroyed one that Clarke had taped together using duct tape the brunette had in her car.  
“No Problem.” The woman replied, “So, you got a reservation?” She asked as she walked around the desk and opened the reservation book, looking expectantly at Clarke.

“You work here too?” Clarke looked around in confusion.

“Yes, I am the manager. Lexa Woods.” She responded without batting an eyelid.

“Nice to meet you I guess.” Clarke still looked a little confused, glancing between Lexa and the taxi outside.

“I just drive the taxi when Ryder’s gout acts up.” Lexa explained.

“Oh, well, uh. I’m actually here to see the owner.” Clarke clarified, looking around as if Indra would just pop up out of the woodwork. 

“Indra?” 

“Yes, is she around?” Clarke asked anxious to hand the letters over.

“You just missed her.” Lexa smiled, “She left town this morning.”

“What?” Clarke asked in disbelief.

“Echo!” Lexa shouted across the room to her co-worker who was assisting an elderly couple to their seats by the fire. “Indra say when she is going to be back?”

“You’ve met Indra right?” Echo laughed. 

Lexa laughed at that “Yeah, our boss and her ‘mysterious commuting with the elements trips’ and ‘Mere mortals are not welcome to that information’.” Lexa explained then added “Her words, not mine.”

“Did she say how long she was going away for?” Clarke asked hoping Indra’s ‘mysterious commute with the elements’ wouldn’t last more than an hour or so.

“Echo?” Lexa asked.

“All she said was and I quote “I’ll be back when I’m back”.” Echo responded imitating Indra’s deep voice.

Lexa looked at Clarke expectantly, “Seems like she is going to be back when she is back.”

“Can you please call her and just tell her that I’m here. It’s Clarke Gr…” Clarke panicked, she really should have come up with a fake name before coming on this trip. Looking around for inspiration her eyes locked on a landscape picture behind Lexa and inspiration hit. “Green…field, Greenfield.” Clarke stumbled over the fake surname.

“Yeah…” Lexa looked at her uncertainly wondering why the woman was acting so odd. “Like I said the reception here’s a disaster. And besides, Indra is not really a cell phone kind of woman.”

“Yeah but my mother, she…” Clarke began before she remembered she couldn’t tell Lexa who her mother was. “I just…. I just thought that she knew I was coming.” Clarke finished lamely.

“Well she didn’t say anything to me. Sorry.” Lexa replied. “So, you still want that room or not Miss Greenfield?”

“Yes, thank you.” Clarke replied.

“Clarke Greenfield.” Lexa said out loud as she entered Clarke’s details into the computer. Clarke looked up at Lexa, a shiver went through her at the way Lexa said her name. No one had ever said her name like that before. The way the ‘K’ was more pronounced. Clarke wasn’t sure if she liked it or not.

“There is a landline in your room, but I’m going to have to charge you for it.” Lexa explained.

“That’s fine.” Clarke really needed to contact her mother and find out what the hell was going on.

“The cookies are free though.” Echo announced cheerily as she approached Clarke with a wide smile and a plate stacked hi with cookies.

“Great.” Clarke grumbled as she grabbed one and made her way to her room. She couldn’t wait to get out of here.


	6. Gustus is a Teddy Bear!

Clarke was pacing around her room with the room phone cradled in the crook of her neck while she unpacked her bag. She had called her mother immediately and informed her of Indra’s absence.

“Really she’s not there?” Abby laughed feigning disbelief. “You know, that’s just like her. Ever since Indra retired, she’s lost all track of time.”

“So what am I supposed to do now?” Clarke asked.

“Well, you’re already at the inn, so why don’t you just relax and make yourself at home and hopefully she will show up tomorrow morning.” Abby advised.

“But if she doesn’t? Can I just leave the Christmas letters at the front desk and… come back to New York?” Asked Clarke fingers crossed that her mother would agree and she could leave Snow Falls as soon as possible.

“No honey, I’m sorry but you must put it into her hand. That’s the tradition and that’s our deal. If you really want this, then you will see this through.” Abby said in a stern voice, this was something she would not waver on.

“But mom, it’s nearly three days till Christmas Eve.” Clarke complained as she threw her hands up in annoyance dropping the phone in the process. “Ah crap, Hello?” Clarke picked up the phone and heard a crackle over the line.

“Uh I’m sorry honey I can’t hear you very well, we’ve got a bad connection.” Abby’s voice was faint over the line.

“I said its only three days till Christmas Eve and I promised Finn…” Clarke shouted into the phone. “Hello?” Clarke heard the dial tone as the call dropped and groaned loudly before kicking the chair her bag was on in frustration sending her already destroyed bag crashing to the floor and breaking further and her clothes spilled out across the floor. Clarke couldn’t take it anymore, this was supposed to be simple and now everything was going wrong. Clarke was on the verge of wallowing in self-pity when she heard a knock on her door. “Just a minute!” she shouted as she made her way over to the door and yanked it open.

“Hey” Lexa greeted her.

“Hi” Clarke greeted in frustration. 

Lexa got distracted by the state of the girl’s room. It looked like a bomb hit it and Lexa couldn’t help but chuckle at the chaos that seemed to follow a certain Miss Greenfield. Lexa quickly remembered why she was here. “Uh, here is your change.” She said as she held out her hand with a stack of bills.

“Oh” Clarke held out her hand to accept the change.

“Sorry that took so long, I had to go down to the safe, we don’t get a lot of hundreds around here.” Lexa explained with a smirk. Of course the rich New York girl only had $100 notes.

“Yeah uh, have you heard from Indra yet?” Clarke asked hopefully.

“Nothing, sorry.” Lexa shook her head. “So look, if you get hungry, Gustus’s Diner is just around the corner.” Lexa explained as she pointed in the direction of the diner.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll just order room service.” Clarke smiled but then then it dropped when she saw Lexa’s face. “What?”

“Gustus’s Diner is room service.” Lexa chuckled but then one glance at the blondes’ look of defeat and she decided to once again take pity on the girl. “Come on, I’ll walk you over. I gotta get coffee there anyway.”

“Okay” Clarke agreed turning to grab her coat. She froze when she noticed Lexa look her up and down. “What?”

“Nothing it’s just… Is that what you are wearing?” Lexa asked not believing the Clarke would be stupid enough to go out into the blizzard wearing practically nothing. 

Clarke looked down at her short black skirt, white blouse and thigh high black boots with killer heels. Her purple coat complimented the outfit nicely. She thought she looked very fashionable as opposed to Lexa who simply wore jeans and a flannel shirt with a thick puffy jacket and big bulky hiking boots. Who was Lexa to question her outfit? She clearly had no fashion sense. “Yes, do you have a problem with that?”

Lexa just smirked. “Nope, no problem here.” 

 

Clarke and Lexa walked down the street at a slow pace due to Clarke's impractical heels.

“It gets dark fast around here” Clarke stated the obvious.

“You’re in the deep north now, Miss” Lexa drawled in a fake county accent.

As they walked down the street they approached a homeless man in a Christmas hat playing the harmonica taking cover on the steps of a store. Clarke made to move to the other side of the street, but Lexa approached the man and placed a couple of notes into his hand.

“Ho Ho Ho! Well thank you very much young Lexa! A very Merry Christmas to you.” He nodded to Lexa and then turned to Clarke “And you too beautiful lady! Thanks.”

Clarke just nodded uncomfortably without making eye contact and stepped up her pace to get as far away from the homeless man as possible.

Lexa jogged a little to catch up to Clarke. “Forget your change upstairs?”

“No. No, I’m just on a bit of a…. budget.” Clarke replied a little uncomfortably.  
“Hm…” Lexa hummed guessing it was a little more than that.

“Besides, my fiancé says giving money to the homeless actually hurts them.” Clarke informed Lexa with an air of entitlement.

“That’s ridiculous!” Lexa scoffed.

“Well, I’m not sure I agree with him, but think about it. Giving charity makes us feel good, but it’s really selfish. I mean, are we helping the homeless by giving them money or should we be encouraging them to earn their own?” Clarke explained.

“That’s a nice theory, but I think in practice Roan back there probably really appreciates every penny that gets him closer to a warm meal.” Lexa stated in earnest before walking a little faster to the diner.

 

As they approached the diner Lexa opened the door and stood back to let Clarke go in first. Clarke was a little taken aback at first before nodding her thanks to Lexa and stepped in out of the cold. 

Looking around Clarke could see the diner was nearly full. Obviously this was the only place to eat in town. “Wow, this place is really packed. I should have made a reservation.”

“Luckily I know the owner!” Lexa grinned.

“Hey little Lexi you’re just in time for your favourite!” A giant of a man with tattoo sleeves and a big bushy beard and thick braids in his long hair approached Lexa and engulfed her in a bear hug. 

“Thanks Uncle Gus, but I’m just here to pick up the coffee for the morning.” Lexa giggled as she extricated herself from the bear of a man.

“Don’t be silly, the chef saved you some clam chowder and you know you don’t want to upset the chef!” Gustus said in his stern deep voice in mock seriousness before turning to Clarke and winking at her before explaining “I’m the Chef!” 

“Oh!” Clarke chuckled, not expecting the tough looking bear of a man to instantly make her feel at home in the diner and treat her as if they had an inside joke. 

“How about you sweetie? Something to eat, something to drink…” Gustus offered before looking Clarke up and down, clearly disapproving of Clarke’s attire. “Some warmer clothes perhaps?”

“She will survive. She is just here for the night.” Lexa stated matter-of-factly.

“Well thank you for choosing to bring your date to our humble establishment.” Gustus replied taking a small mock bow.

“Oh! I’m not her date.” Clarke was quick to correct the mountain of a man. Though she did find it interesting that the man thought they were together. She is not sure what she expected, but Lexa being part of the LGBT community and her burly intimidating uncle being cool in with it in such a small town was certainly a surprise.

“No Uncle Gus, this is Clarke Greenfield, she is a guest at the inn.” Lexa explained. 

“Guest. Hi!” Clarke pointed to herself and then held out her hand to towards Gus and he smiled at her as he shook it.

“Okay. Not-a-date.” Gus chuckled “But just one night? That’s too bad. You’re going to miss dinner with Santa Claus. It’s a Christmas Eve tradition here. We set up a Santa house in the church hall for all the kids and we raise money for charity.” Gus explained excitedly clearly trying to convince Clarke to stay on longer.

“Miss Greenfield has a complicated relationship with charity.” Lexa mock whispered to Gus as she walked behind the counter and into the kitchen to collect her coffee. 

Clarke glanced at Gus who had his eyebrows raised in curiosity at Lexa’s statement.

“I do not! I… don’t.” Clarke blushed a little guiltily before picking up one of the event flyers laying on the counter.

“We have dinner and dancing and a silent auction. It’s fun! You should stay!” Gus encouraged.

“I can’t, I have to go back to New York. I’m just here to see Indra.” Clarke replied declining the offer.

“Indra Forest? Well you’re in the right place, she comes in here all the time. You see that table right there?” Gus pointed to a table in the corner of the diner that had a few photographs above it. On closer inspection Clarke noticed they were actually pictures of her mother and Indra at a very young age sitting at the very table Gus was pointing to, big grins on their faces. “That is where it all began. Indra Forest and Abigail Griffin came up with the idea for Home & Hearth Gifts right in that booth. Who knows, if it wasn’t for my little diner their whole multi-million dollar company might’ve never gotten off the ground.” Gus said proudly before turning back to Clarke “How do you know Indra?”

“Oh, uh, I… am a friend of the family. Do you know Abigail Griffin too?” Clarke asked intrigued.

“Know her?” Gus chuckled “I dated her all my senior year of high school.” 

“You dated m… Mrs Griffin?” Clarke was shocked, not being able to picture her mother with Gus.

“Yeah, we tried for a while but it didn’t work out. Then she met Jake. I so wanted to hate him on principle, but he was the nicest guy. Kind too! Everybody loved Jake. And Abby and he made an amazing couple.” Gus reminisced.

“Didn’t they get married at the inn?” Clarke fished for more information, excited to meet someone who had known her parents from so long ago.

“That’s right.” Gus smiled, but then took on a sombre expression. “Yeah, I heard Jake passed away about 10 years ago. Poor Abby.” Gus looked so emotional thinking about his old friends, then he cleared his throat and shook his head as if suddenly remembering where he was. “Anyway forgive my reminiscing. You check out the menu and I’ll be right back.” Gus stated as he made his way across the diner to check on his other patrons.

“You okay?” Lexa asked as she walked back out the kitchen only to find Clarke looking rather emotional, her eyes glistening a bit with unshed tears as she thought about her father.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Clarke replied in a flat voice before deciding it would be safer to change the subject. “Uh, so… He is your uncle?” She asked Lexa.

“Yeah, I was born here, so I’ve got a lot of family in town.” Lexa smiled fondly.

“So, you grew up here, moved to New York and… you know,” Clarke waved her hands gesturing for Lexa to fill in the blanks and maybe open up to her bit. “What brought you back to Snow Falls?”

“Oh, uh… I Just… realized big city life wasn’t for me, that’s all.” Lexa grumbled, not wanting to talk about it.

Clarke got the impression that this was a sore subject for Lexa and she wondered what could possibly have happened to make the brunette hate New York so much. Sitting on her stool at the diner counter Clarke took in the sights and sounds of the bustling diner. Silent Night came on the Juke Box and Lexa’s head shot up and the tension was radiating off her. “Excuse Me.” Lexa jumped off her stool and stomped her way over to the Juke box.

“Are you okay little Heda?” Gus asked in a kind voice as he approached his niece who was violently slamming buttons on the Juke box machine. He used his old childhood nickname for her to try and remind her she was safe and with family. 

“Oh, I Just…” Lexa waved her hands as if lost for words. “I can’t stand this song.” She finished lamely all the while still slamming the skip button on the machine. Anything to stop this god damn song! “Come On!!!” Lexa roared at the machine when it refused to skip to the next song.

“So… She seems nice.” Gus stated with a smirk nodding his head towards Clarke.

“Uncle Gus!” Lexa groaned already knowing what her nosey uncle was insinuating.

“I’m just saying, she seems like a nice girl, that’s all.” Gus stated innocently raising his hands in surrender.

“She’s a guest at the inn Uncle Gus… that’s all.” Lexa shook her head at her uncle’s antics. “Besides. I’m not interested.” Lexa continued in a small voice.

“Because you don’t want to be interested.” Gus said exasperated with his niece.

“I just want a new song!” Lexa shouted as she kicked the Juke box in anger when Silent night still rang on.

“Lexa, you can’t keep yourself closed off. It’s not healthy…” Gustus tried again, clearly worried for her.

“I’m fine!” Lexa snarled as she slammed her fist into the machine and then grinned in victory when it finally changed song.

“Sure you’re fine, that’s why you are beating up my Juke box.” Gus grumbled as he walked away shaking his head in defeat.

 

After eating the most amazing clam chowder Clarke and Lexa walked back to the inn in silence. Clearly Lexa was upset, she had been since the song came on and she had gone all hulk on the Juke Box until the song changed, but Clarke couldn’t figure out what could possibly have upset Lexa and to be honest she wasn’t sure if she cared, all she wanted was her warm bed. When they arrived at the inn they had gone their separate ways and now Clarke found herself staring out her room window down at the snow covered street where the Christmas Carollers were at it again, trying to spread cheer. She actually found it somewhat soothing as she prepared for bed. Shutting her window and drawing the curtains she walked over to her bed. Looking at the base of it Clarke noticed a Teddy bear dressed in a Santa outfit staring back at her as cheerfully.

“What are you so happy about?” She grumbled as she threw the cheerful bear across the room so she wouldn’t have to look at its cheerful little face any longer.

Pulling back the covers of her bed Clarke climbed in and snuggled down into her bed stretching out in comfort.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” She screamed as her foot made contact with something furry and warm under the covers. She jumped up still screaming and ran for the door, yanking it open and running full force into Lexa who had heard the screaming and come to investigate.

“Miss Greenfield, everything alright?” Lexa asked in a soothing voice trying to calm Clarke down so she could figure out what had terrified the girl.

“There is something in my bed!” Clarke shrieked pointing back to her bed “An Animal of some kind, maybe a raccoon. What kind of place is this!?”

Lexa just smirked as she confidently approached the bed already knowing what she was going to find… “Okay, let’s have a look… Oh Boy!” Lexa shouted jokingly.

“What?” Clarke asked still fearing for her life.

“Yeah, you are lucky, you were almost bitten by a…” Lexa paused for dramatic effect as she reached into the bed and pulled out a… “Hot water bottle.”

“A what?” Clarke asked in confusion.

“A bottle full of hot water.” Lexa grinned before announcing each word dramatically as if Clarke were an idiot.

“Everything alright in there?” someone asked and Lexa looked up past Clarke to see a crowd of guests all gathered around the door trying to see into the room so see what all the commotion was about.

“Everything is fine folks, you can all go back to your rooms. The… culprit has been apprehended and will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law!” Lexa winked at them grinning as she held up the offending furry hot water bottle.

“What was it doing in there?” Clarke asked clearly embarrassed.

“It was trying to keep you warm. It is a perk that we offer our guests in the winter time. Most people enjoy it.” Lexa explained sarcastically. “Especially those whose sleepwear is not exactly conducive to the local climate.” She added as she took in Clarke’s skimpy excuse for sleepwear.

Clarke looked down and suddenly remembered what she was wearing and blushed a deep crimson. “Thank you, Thanks.” She muttered as she quickly gestured to the door in hopes of encouraging Lexa to leave. 

“Extra blanket? You will probably need it.” Lexa stated with a shit eating grin on her face as she made her way to the door.

“Good night!” Clarke snarled as she slammed the door behind Lexa. 

It had been a terrible day and Clarke for one was glad it was over, she just hoped tomorrow would be better.


	7. Lexa makes Clarke an offer...

Clarke rose early and made her way downstairs to the common area where the other guests were sitting enjoying their breakfast and coffee. Clarke gazed around looking for an open space to sit when she spotted Lexa. She was about to approach her when Lexa was called over by a very irate looking bald man.

“Excuse me! This is not clotted cream, this is whipped cream.” The bald man complained grumpily.

“I’m afraid Uncle Gus didn’t send any over with Breakfast this morning General Titus.” Lexa apologised. 

“Did you think I wouldn’t know the difference? Do you think me a fool?” The man yelled.

“Of course not sir.” Lexa said gently “I would be happy to arrange for a credit on your account. For the price of one pot of clotted cream.” Lexa offered with a kind smile.

“That’s much better.” The man growled turning back to his paper and taking another sip of the offending coffee.

“Alright!” Lexa laughed quietly glad to have been able to appease the man.

Lexa looked up and spotted Clarke staring at her with an odd expression having watched the confrontation. 

“I’m impressed, you handled that like a professional.” Clarke was a little surprised the woman had been so calm and kind to such an angry man who was clearly just complaining for the sake of complaining. 

“Who? General Titus?” Asked Lexa as she pointed him out over her shoulder. “Nah, he is a sweet old guy.” She said with a smile which dropped a little before she continued. “You know… ever since his wife died he comes back here every year to celebrate Christmas with us. Kind of a tradition.” Lexa explained in a soft voice while glancing at Titus with kind eyes. The Inn phone rang causing Lexa to break out of her musings. She excused herself and ran over to the phone answering in a cheery voice. “Merry Christmas, Snow Falls Inn how may I help you?” Lexa paused for a second listening to the caller before she glanced up at Clarke with a tight smile. “Yes, she is right here, hold on a sec.” Lexa held out the phone to Clarke who raced over to answer it.

“Aunt Indra?” She asked hopefully.

“No it’s me” Replied the irritable voice of her fiancé. “Haven’t you been getting any of my messages?” He asked grumpily.

“Oh, sorry babe, there is no reception up here.” Clarke tried to laugh it off turning her back on Lexa who she noticed was suddenly very interested in the filing at the desk.

“Yeah! I’ve been trying to call you all morning. It’s really annoying.” He whined.

“Well it’s nice to hear your voice.” Clarke tried to appease him.

“So what time are you getting back?” He demanded.

“Yeah, I’m not sure.” Clarke replied wishing she knew.

“Whoa. What does that mean?” Finn asked in disbelief.

“Well, Aunt Indra isn’t back yet.” She tried to explain.

“Clarke! Tonight is the night of my office Christmas thing!” Finn stated angrily.

“Oh, yeah right.” Clarke cringed, totally forgetting that was tonight.

“You have to get back here for that. I want us to make an Entrance.” He ordered knowing that it would make him look good to his investors if he arrived with the multi-million dollar heiress on his arm.

“Well, okay, but I just, I can’t go yet.” Clarke reasoned.

“Can’t you just dump the letters and come home?” Finn couldn’t believe she was going to miss his function for some stupid letters.

“I’m really sorry babe, but it doesn’t work that way. The tradition is that I have to give her the letters to Indra in person.” Clarke explained once more not understanding how Finn just couldn’t get it.

“Tradition?” Finn scoffed “What is this, fiddler on the roof?”

“Okay, don’t be like that.” Clarke reprimanded.

“Its fine, whatever.” He stated angrily. 

“Look, I’m sorry, but I’m just going to be stuck here a little bit longer than I thought.” She apologised.

“It’s fine. Harper will be there, I’ll have someone to talk to.” Finn added trying to get under Clark’s skin.

“Harper?” Clarke’s voice turned cold.

“You remember Harper from accounting?” Finn reminded her.

“Harper from accounting… how could I forget?” Clarke asked sarcastically.

“What was that?” Finn asked clearly happy to be making Clarke jealous.

“I… Nothing.” Clarke muttered as she looked over at Lexa who was grinning whilst pretending to not be listening in on the call.

“What did you say? I can’t hear you?” Finn called as the line crackled.

“Finn... Hello? Finn!” Clarke shouted into the receiver.

Clarke walked over to Lexa and gestured to the phone “Can you do something… it’s not…”

“Hello?” Lexa called into the receiver then promptly hung up with a smirk. “Yeah I guess the lines are down, happens a lot when it gets this cold. So, Finn is your fiancé? The Charitable one?” Lexa enquired sarcastically.

“Yes, and he would like me home before the fourth of July.” Clarke responded coldly not happy that Lexa was making fun of her. “Did you get a hold of Indra?” She asked hopefully.

“Sorry”

“Sorry? Sorry you didn’t get hold of her or sorry that you didn’t even try?” Clarke asked in a harsh tone.

“Look, I told you. She doesn’t have a phone up there, now the lines are down. She will be here when she’s here.” Lexa stated getting a little impatient.

“I can’t stay another night.” Clarke mumbled quietly.

“Is it something I said?” Lexa smirked.

“Look, I spent most of my cash at diner last night… and I can’t afford it.” Clarke replied a little embarrassed.

“We take credit cards.”

“I don’t have one.” Clarke confessed.

“Who travels without a credit card?” Lexa scoffed.

“Great. I’m going to have to call my mother.” Clarke grumbled to herself.

“What?” Lexa asked having not understood Clarke's grumbling.

“Nothing. You know what? I’m going to figure this out by myself. Thank you anyway.” Clarke turned on her heel and made her way to the stairs when Lexa called after her.

“Miss Greenfield.” When Clarke didn’t respond she tried again calling a little louder. “Clarke!” She turned to Lexa “Look, we’ve all been there.” Lexa stated kindly.

“Where?” Clarke asked in confusion.

“Money’s a little tight, you didn’t expect all this…” Lexa said taking pity on the girl. “Now I know you are not the biggest fan of charity, but…”

“No! I… I” Clarke started but Lexa cut her off.

“Just let me finish! Mrs Dawson our housekeeper is on vacation. Echo called in sick this morning, so…” Lexa let the statement hang in the air.

“What are you asking me to do?” Clarke queried in confusion.

“Do you know how to make a bed?” Lexa asked with a smirk.

Clarke froze…. She hadn’t had to make her own bed in years, but she was broke and she needed a place to stay until Indra finally appeared. She only had one option so she mustered as much confidence as she could and answered Lexa.  
“Yes….”


	8. Housekeeping...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry I have been MIA, I went away with my family who was visiting from Zimbabwe over the festive period so I couldn't get much writing done, but i'm back now so chapters will be daily. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. Enjoy!

Clarke couldn’t believe what she’d gotten herself into. Why on earth had she agreed to this? Oh yeah, because she didn’t really have any other choice, and that is how she currently found herself following Lexa who was leading her to the first room that would have to clean to help pay her way for tonight as she dragged the house keeping trolley behind her.

As Lexa opened the door she let out a low whistle. “Oh Mama!” she said in disbelief.

Clarke looked around in horror as she slowly walked into what could only be described as a warzone. The room looked like a bomb had hit it, well that or it had possibly been the location of a girls gone wild spring break party. There were empty bottles and solo cups on every surface, furniture had been tipped over and there were clothes littering the floor.

“So…” Lexa looked around uncertainly, “We have no vacancies and eight rooms to clean by 2pm. I figure if we split the job, we will just make it.”

“Uh huh… yeah, that’s a good plan” That was so not a good plan! Clarke was in way over her head!

“Good luck.” Lexa laughed as she made a hasty exit.

“Alright Clarke, you can do this.” She encouraged herself. She shut the door behind her and surveyed the room, deciding where to start. She took note of the Christmas tree in the corner and then noticed the lingerie that had clearly been flung across the room and landed on said Christmas tree. Someone definitely had fun last night. 

She grabbed a trash bag and started by collecting all the empty bottles and cups. She couldn’t help but think about all the times she had left a hotel room looking like this. She had never given a second thought to the poor person who would have to inevitably clean up after her, she always just left a mess and someone else cleaned it for her. 

It was already looking better once all the rubbish had been picked up and Clarke felt happy with her progress until she accidentally bumped into a coffee table in the middle of the room knocking over a black flower vase that shattered into a thousand pieces across the floor. Clarke dropped to her knees in despair as she began picking up the pieces and brushing the smaller pieces up with a dustpan. Her outfit was certainly not conducive to cleaning rooms, her dress and high heels definitely didn’t make the job any easier.

Things just were not going her way, she tried to make the double bed, and while trying to straighten up the fitted sheet she yanked the corner only for it to come off the opposite corner and send Clarke hurtling back into the housekeeping trolley sending all the cleaning materials flying everywhere.  
It seemed that the more she tried to clean the more she ended up having to clean up after herself.

Eventually she had the room looking decent, the bed was made, the clothes gathered and placed in the laundry bag, the trash had been collected, she didn’t even want to discuss how the bathroom had gone, but now she was just doing a final room vacuum and then she would be done.

Clarke was exhausted and this was only her first room. Her feet were aching in her heels and she kept tripping over the stupid vacuum cable. As she vacuumed she couldn’t help but notice her dishevelled appearance in the room mirror, staring back in shock she took a step closer to take a better look at her frizzy and sweaty form, not noticing in her distraction that the vacuum was having trouble sucking up something under the dresser. A squeaking noise suddenly caught her attention and she pulled the vacuum head out from under the dresser and took a closer look surprised to find what looked to be a pair of boxer briefs being sucked up in to the vacuum. Panicking Clarke quickly grabbed the boxers and tried in vain to yank it out, but there was no use and before she could stop it the boxers disappeared down the vacuum hose. Clarke stared the vacuum head helplessly before she noticed the sound change in the room. Instead of the constant hum of the machine there was now a high pitch whirring. Looking up at the machine she noticed it was now vibrating slightly. She approached it cautiously like a ticking bomb with the intention of switching it off, but as she got closer it began shaking, rattling and hissing with such force that it had her scrambling backwards at a rapid pace and ducking behind the Christmas tree to try take cover just in time as it exploded.

Lexa was in the hallway chatting with a customer when she heard the explosion. Not knowing what it was she dropped everything and ran full speed to the room and threw the door open to find what could only be described as chaos. It honestly looked like a snow storm had hit the room. Dust was floating in the air like snowflakes and a thick layer of dust now coated every inch of the room and hiding behind the Christmas tree in the foetal position and covered head to toe in dust was a startled Clarke Greenfield.  
“This might take a little longer than I thought.” Clarke admitted sheepishly.

Clarke followed Lexa to the laundry room lugging all the dusty bedding along with her.   
“I’m really sorry I’m just… I’m not used to this kind of thing.” Clarke apologised to Lexa.

“Yeah. Apparently.” Lexa smirked. “So… what do you do for a living?”

“Me?” Clarke asked raising her eyebrows.

“Yeah.”

“Uh… uh… I… I’m… uh…” Clarke panicked. She couldn’t tell Lexa the truth and to be honest she had no transferable skills that would be of any use in the inn, but she refused to give Lexa the satisfaction of knowing that. She looked around the room looking for inspiration when her eyes zeroed in on a notice board with a flyer on it advertising cupcakes. “Baker… yes! I’m a baker.” She concluded triumphantly.

“A baker huh?” Lexa questioned sceptically.

“Clarke the baker, that’s what they call me! I just bake, bake, and bake.” Clarke babbled confidently. “It’s too bad you don’t have a kitchen here, because that is where I really shine. But you don’t have a kitchen. No kitchen. Oh well.” Clarke shrugged her shoulders with a grin on her face. This was perfect! The inn didn’t have a kitchen, there was nowhere for Lexa to make her bake.

Lexa scratched her chin thinking. “Well actually…”


	9. How do you separate eggs?

Clarke really had to learn to keep her mouth shut. Her brilliant baker idea had backfired and that is how she now found herself standing in Gustus’s Diner kitchen nervously tying on a brightly coloured apron as Gustus shuffled around the kitchen taking ingredients out and placing them on the counter ready for use. Once Gustus had everything ready he turned to Clarke with a big grin which looked slightly out of place on the large tough looking bear of a man. “Okay, we have to deliver the tea service to the inn by 4pm so why don’t you do the cookies while I whip up the shortbread?”

“Um…. Okay.” Clarke responded hesitantly.

“Great! But first do me a favour and separate the eggs.” Gustus handed her a huge bowl of eggs, there must have been a couple dozen eggs in it piled high.

Clarke looked at the eggs with wide eyes “Separate the eggs… got it” she replied faintly with a small smile to Gustus as he made his way out the kitchen to go do who knows what.

Once Gustus had gone Clarke let out a huge stressful sigh and took a closer look at the eggs. They were mocking her, she was sure of it! Clarke gingerly pick up two random eggs from the top of the pile and held them up to take a closer look at them. What could Gustus have possibly meant by separating the eggs… separate them from what?

 

Gustus left the girl in the kitchen after setting her to work. When Lexa had called him earlier to inform him of Clarkes situation and ask if Clarke could come in to help him with the tea Gustus had been more than happy for the help. Christmas was always a busy time for him and having an extra set of hands in the kitchen was not something he was going to turn down. Besides it would give him a chance to get to know the blonde a little better. He was curious about her, it had been a long time since someone had caught his nieces’ eye… even if she was stubbornly in denial.

Making his way over to the corner booth to clean up after the customers that had just left, Gustus went about wiping the table down. As he cleaned he glanced up at the photo that hung on the wall above the booth. There was something about it… taking a step closer he reached out to grasp the frame so he could get a better look at it. It was a picture of a young Abby Griffin standing next to a smiling Jake with their toddler up on his shoulders looking every bit the happy family they once were. He smiled in nostalgia… and that is when he saw it. He couldn’t believe that he had missed it to be honest, it was so glaringly obvious. The blonde hair, the blue eyes… they even had the same smile. Shaking his head in disbelief he placed the photo back on the wall and made his way back to the kitchen.

Gustus couldn’t help but smile at the sight that greeted him when he walked back into the kitchen to find Clarke leaning over the counter, elbows on the counter, head in her hands full on glaring at the bowl of eggs in confusion. “Is everything alright Clarke?” He asked gently as he approached her.

“Yes!” She replied clearly startled. “Yes I was just wondering… you said that you wanted me to separate the eggs, but you didn’t tell me whether or not you wanted them separated by size or weight.” Clarke asked looking completely lost.

Gustus laughed, taking pity on the girl. “You’re not a baker are you?”

“No.” Clarke replied guiltily.

“Have you ever done any cooking?” He asked sceptically.

“I watch the cooking channel… sometimes… at the gym.” Clarke grimaced.

Gustus stared at her, looking at her properly for what felt like the first time. “I should have realized yesterday. You look just like him.”

“Excuse me?” Clarke asked clearly confused.

“Your dad. You are the splitting image of Jake Griffin.” Gustus stated as if it was obvious.

Clarke looked like she was going to deny it, but then though better of it. “I didn’t think of that.” She admitted.

“So” Gustus suddenly looked stern. “Why are you lying about who you are?” He asked suspiciously.

“I’m not lying, really.” Clarke looked guilty. “I’m doing this for my mom.” Clarke explained. “See she wanted me to come here without telling anyone who I am. So that people wouldn’t treat me differently. She wanted me to learn something from the people of Snow Falls.”

“Learn something?” Gustus asked uncertainly. 

“Yeah.” Clarke gave him a small smile. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

Gustus paced around the kitchen in deep thought. “Well, if Abby Griffin thinks it’s a good idea then I guess I’m willing to help out.”

“Thank you.” Clarke said, clearly relieved. 

Gustus paused for a moment, deliberating whether or not he should say what was on his mind. “Did you know that Lexa was married once?”

“No.” Clarke was shocked, she couldn’t picture grumpy sarcastic Lexa married.

“To a Wall Street broker, believe it or not.” Gustus smiled sadly. “They met when she was in college in New York. Got married a year later and a year after that, she left Lexa for one of her clients. Some Millionaire.” He explained bitterly. To be honest he had never liked that girl.

“That’s terrible.” Clarke replied sadly, thinking that maybe this explained why Lexa seemed so closed off.

“It is. Broke my heart. You see I… I love my niece like she were my own daughter, and… I don’t want to see her get hurt.” He was looking at her seriously now.

Clarke stared back at him wondering what he was getting at, then it clicked. He thought she was leading Lexa on. “No. No. no. no. I’m… I’m not here to hurt anybody I promise.” She looked him in the eye and promised him sincerely. “Really, I’m just here to learn.”

Gustus stood back appraising her earnestly clearly trying to decide if he should trust her or not. “Well… there’s only one thing we can do then.”

“What?” Clarke asked unsure where this was going.

Gustus gave her a big smile, clapping her on the back. “We have to teach you how to bake.”


	10. A storm this way comes...

Clarke and Gustus stood side by side in the doorway leading to the dining room watching as the guests sat munching on the cookies and other pastries that they had brought over for the evening tea. The weather outside was crazy, a huge storm was making its way through the town and as such all the guests had returned early to the inn to take cover and indulge in hot chocolate and cookies.

Gustus nodded his head towards the guests with a grin on his face. “Looks like your Christmas cookies are a big hit.” He said proudly.

“Thanks to you.” Clarke grinned guiltily.

“Oh, I just held your hand a little bit. You did the rest.” Gustus replied good-naturedly giving her a conspiratorial wink. “I’ll have you making Baked Alaska in no time.” 

Clarke just laughed at the bear of a man. She had actually had a great afternoon with Gustus. He had been kind and patient, showing her what to do and explaining the ins and outs and secrets to baking the perfect Christmas cookies. Time had flown by and she had almost been sad the day was over when the cookies were ready to be brought over to the Inn. She was broken out her musings by a very irate Titus stomping his way towards Gustus.

“Where is the manager?” The bald man demanded.

Clarke stepped forward towards the man in the hopes of placating him before he made a scene. “I’m not sure General Titus, can I help you with anything?”

“We’re out of Honey. This morning no clotted cream. What is this place coming to?” He grumbled.

“Well, I…” Any response Clarke could think up quickly got cut short by the front door slamming open. She ran through to the lobby to see what had caused the commotion only to see the door wide open and snow billowing though as Lexa stumbled though carrying a big duffel bag and a young girl on her hip followed by a young woman with a small baby in her arms and continued to make way for the throng of people behind her trying to get in from the cold.

“Come on inside folks. Everybody come on over to the fire and warm up. Uncle Gus can you give me a hand?” Lexa called out as she started directing people through to the lounge area.

Gustus suddenly jumped into action running forward to grab the heavy bag from Lexa and help her shut the door behind the group of people once everyone was in. “Yes, Please, come on in. Come on in.” He directed.

Lexa put the young girl down and dusted the snow off her thick jacket and addressed the group “Let’s just get you folks nice and warm.”

Seeing Lexa was busy, Clarke approached a young brunette woman in uniform, the badge on her pocket identifying her as the Sheriff who had followed Lexa in. “Hey, what’s going on?”

The young woman looked exhausted, turning to Clarke she explained. “The storm knocked out the power on the east side of town. The temperature is getting dangerous, so we moved most everybody to the shelters for the night. But… we still need a place for these folks till the power comes back on.”

Clarke couldn’t imagine having to leave her home in the middle of a storm, she was just grateful that at least the inn was still operational and that they had enough space to be able to offer these people somewhere warm for the night. She was still helping people get settled in when she noticed Lexa heading to the door. She raced up to her quickly. “Are you going back out there?”

“Yeah, I need to get more firewood.” Lexa replied walking to the door.

“Lexa how are you going to fit all these people in here?” She asked gesturing to the now overcrowded room.

“Well, we will figure it out… we have to. We can’t leave anyone out in the cold.” Lexa shrugged with a small smile as she walked out into the storm to fetch the firewood.

“Out in the cold…” Clarke looked around at the room, observing all the faces in the room. Suddenly her blood ran cold as a thought ran through her mind. She grabbed her jacket hanging by the door and fumbled as she tried to put it on in haste.

“Clarke, where are you going?” Gustus asked as she walked up to her.

“I’ll be back soon.” Clarke promised.

“Oh, honey, its freezing out there.” Gustus warned in a worried tone, looking at the dress Clarke was wearing and the flimsy jacket that would be no help in the current weather.

“I’ll be fine” She assured him as she made her way out into the billowing storm.

******************************

Lexa threw the last log into a box and picked it up to make her way indoors. She leaned against the door once she was inside, trying to use her body weight to push the door shut against the wind. Gustus ran up to help Lexa shut the door.

“Clarke’s not with you?” He asked worriedly.

“No, what do you mean?” Lexa asked in confusion.

“I thought she went outside to help you?” Gustus explained.

“She’s outside?” Lexa questioned worriedly.

“Yeah, she was in a real rush.” Gustus replied concerned now that he didn’t know where the girl was.

As Lexa was about to head out to go find Clarke she heard the door open again and turned to see a windswept snow covered Clarke ushering in a frozen looking Roan through the door. 

“Come on. It’s much warmer in here. We have a fire going. It will be great.” Clarke encouraged.

“Are you sure?” Roan looked around uncertainly. 

“Yeah” She looked up at Lexa with pleading eyes and then nodded her head towards Roan trying to get Lexa to help her out.

Lexa was shocked. The girl who had tried to cross the street so she didn’t have to give Roan her change had gone out in the middle of a storm to get him. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. When she noticed Clarke trying to catch her eye she quickly caught on and ran forward to help welcome Roan “Of course, yeah! Come on in. You are more than welcome here.” Lexa confirmed.

“Hi Lexa” Roan greeted.

“Hey Roan, come on in.” Gustus greeted.

“I… I don’t want to make no trouble.” Roan mumbled hesitantly.

“Nonsense, come sit by the fire.” Lexa encouraged him.

“I’ll get you some hot chocolate.” Gustus offered.

“Thank you.” Roan replied gratefully as he sat down by the fire trying to warm up.

Seeing that everyone was now settled Lexa stormed over to Clarke.

“Why did you go out there by yourself? You should have come to get me or told the Sheriff.” Lexa demanded.

“Everyone was Busy.” Clarke stated firmly.

“The weather out there is not a joke. You are way under dressed.” Lexa shouted. 

Clarke smirked. “You were worried about me.”

“What? No, I wasn’t.” Lexa spluttered “I was worried about your clothes… or lack thereof.” She stated as she gestured to Clarkes once again inadequate outfit.

“You were worried about my lack of clothes?” Clarke grinned wickedly.

“Yes” Lexa replied frustrated that Clarke wasn’t taking this seriously.

“Well, my clothes thank you.” Clarke smirked.

“That makes no sense whatsoever.” Lexa exasperated, but then took a breath and calmed herself as she looked over at Roan heating himself by the fire. “That was fast thinking. Thank you.”

“Well you set a good example, so thank you.” Clarke smiled.

Lexa found herself looking at the beautiful blonde girl with amazing blue eyes in a new light, maybe she had judged her too harshly, not many people would have even thought about Roan, never mind facing a storm like this to go and get him. Lexa quickly realised she had been staring at the girl “Okay. Uh, I’m going to… head over to the fire… to go make the fire…” She stuttered nervously hoping she hadn’t been caught staring.

“Okay” Clarke grinned.

Lexa turned around to head to the fireplace and remembered that it was already blazing “Bigger. I meant I’m going to go make the fire… bigger.” She honestly wanted to face palm right now, what was wrong with her?

“Haha okay” Clarke chuckled as Lexa walked away still blushing.


	11. Roommate...

Everyone was gathered together in the lounge settled by the fire, guests and stranded alike, Lexa had been allocating the various rooms to the additional bodies they now had to bed for the night.

Lexa turned to a family of four “So, you folks are going to stay in my room, and I’m going to bunk down here with Roan.” She informed the family and then turned to Roan to make sure that he was okay with sleeping downstairs in the lounge on one of the couches and he wouldn’t be uncomfortable.

“Thank you mam” Roan nodded gratefully, to be honest he was accustomed to sleeping on the floor in the cold. Sharing the lounge and sleeping on a couch by a large fire is more than he could have dreamed for a night like this. 

Lexa smiled at him and then turned to the remaining people looking for a place to sleep, a young married couple and her friend Raven and her two kids. “No problem. Now, that just leaves you guys and Raven and her two snow princesses.”

One of the guests came forward to help Lexa. “My wife and I have the honeymoon suite. We could give up the sofa in the sitting room.”

“That is great. Thank you.” Lexa breathed a sigh of relief, every bed counted.

Just then General Titus came forward and Lexa’s chest tightened just a tiny bit, wondering what the old man was going to grumble about now. “Lexa, I’d like to volunteer to give up my room, take the honeymooners sofa.” He kindly offered. “My hearing is not that good anymore anyway.” He added with a wink.

Lexa was taken aback by the man’s generosity. “Thank you General, very kind of you. So, you folks will stay in the Generals room.” She handed them the keys, then turned to her friend “Now… Raven…”

“Ah it’s okay Lexa we’ll just make ourselves comfortable down here somewhere.” Raven gestured to one of the couches in front of the fire.

Clarke had stood on the side-lines watching how Lexa orchestrated the groups sleeping arrangements. She then thought about the room that she technically wasn’t even paying for. “Uh, excuse me. I have a couch in my room. I’d be happy to share it too.” She offered.

“No, no you don’t have to do that. It’s okay.” Raven tried to wave her off.

“I want to. It’s Christmas.” Clarke responded with confidence.

Raven turned to her daughter and pointed to Clarke, “Say “thank you” to the nice lady.” She encouraged.

“Thank you nice lady.” The girl looked shyly at her mother and then at Clarke.

Looking up Clarke noticed Lexa staring at her with an odd expression on her face. As Clarke was about to look away Lexa nodded towards the family of 3 sitting by the Christmas tree and then mouthed out to Clarke “Thank you”

Clarke smiled and then mouthed back “You’re welcome."

Clarke and Raven made their way back to Clarke’s room, carrying the few bags that Raven had been able to pack in the short evacuation time they had been given.

“Here we go, come on in.” Clarke opened the door and stepped aside to let Raven and her daughter through.

“I cannot tell you how much we appreciate this.” An exhausted Raven thanked Clarke.

“Of course” Clarke smiled, glad that she had been able to help.

“Mommy, what if Santa can’t find us?” The little girl asked Raven. She looked like she was close to tears and Clarkes' heart broke for her. 

Raven knelt down to hug her daughter, “Oh I wouldn’t worry honey, Santa is pretty smart.”

“Yeah, besides there are still two days till Christmas” Clarke smiled at the little girl encouragingly.

“Okay” She agreed with a little reluctance, still not sure if she should trust her mom and the strange lady with gold hair about something as important as Santa.

Just then the baby in Ravens arms started crying and Raven looked like she might just burst into tears herself. “This would be so much easier if Anya was here.” Raven sighed, then seeing the confusion on Clarke’s face she explained. “That’s my wife, she is stationed over in Germany and we were hoping she would be home in time for Christmas, but… best laid plans and all that.” Raven missed her wife and having to evacuate their home with their young daughter and baby right before Christmas was not something she expected or was prepared in any way for. Her army wife would have known exactly what to do in this situation and as if it wasn’t hard enough already being separated on Christmas now they had to pack up and leave their home. Raven was battling to find the baby food she had packed and Charlotte wouldn’t stop crying. Turning to Clarke in desperation she held out Charlotte and asked. “Would you mind?” 

“Oh, no…” Clarke panicked, taking a step back with wide eyes, looking like a deer caught in a headlight.

“Here, she will be fine…” Raven encouraged as she placed the baby in Clarke's hands and turned to get the baby food.

“Oh, okay” Clarke whispered as she looked down into the beautiful bright eyes of little Charlotte who stopped crying immediately and looked up at Clarke in wonder.

“Thanks” Raven smiled as she went about looking through the bags trying to find what she needed.

Looking down at the baby and then up at Tris and back to Raven, Clarke quickly made up her mind. “Hey, why don’t you guys take the bed? I can camp out on the sofa.”

“Oh we can’t do that, you have already been so generous.” Raven declined.

“No, its fine really, there are three of you and only one of me” Clarke replied convincingly. 

As Raven was about to reply Tris burst into tears and ran up to her dragging her bag behind her. “Mommy I can’t find Pauna” She cried.

“Who’s Pauna?” Clarke asked in confusion.

“My Dog” She wailed.

“Your dog?” Clarkes’ eyebrows shot up. There was no ways a dog would be okay out in this weather, even if the storm was settling down.

“Her stuffed dog.” Raven quickly explained to Clarke, then turned to Tris “Honey are you sure?” she asked as she too looked through her daughters’ bag in desperation. This would not end well if she had forgotten to pack Pauna.

“He’s not in here. Mommy you forgot him, you know I can’t sleep without Pauna.” Tris whimpered.

Looking around for some inspiration Clarkes’ sight landed on the Teddy Bear she had been cursing at the previous night. “You know what? This guy looks kind of lonely.” Clarke held out the bear to Tris. “Do you think Pauna would mind if you kept him company tonight?”

Tris looked between her mom who was nodding and the bear and then decided that maybe Pauna would be okay with her sleeping without her for one night. “Okay” She agreed in a small voice.

“Thank you, it’s so cute.” Raved cooed.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Raven raced over to it and opened it to find Lexa standing there holding a pile of blankets in her arms. 

“Hey” She greeted with a smile.

“Hey” Raven greeted her.

“Figured you might need these.” She stated as she held up the blankets.

“Thank you” Raven walked up to Lexa and grabbed the blankets from her.

“Sure.” Lexa smiled as she handed them over and looked over Ravens shoulder to where Clarke was standing with Charlotte in her arms, smiling down at the baby. “Looks like you made a new friend.” Lexa grinned at her.

Clarke looked up at Lexa and then grinned. “Yeah, she likes me. I’m not sure why though…”

Lexa stared back at Clarke. She looked so natural with baby Charlotte in her arms, she was beautiful. Lexa couldn’t help but smile as she caught Clarke's eye. The two of them stood there lost in each other’s eyes. Raven looked between the two them, a cheeky grin forming on her face as she noticed the way they were looking each other. Raven just stood there waiting, but honestly she had children to put to bed and these two were getting ridiculous, so she cleared her throat, breaking the spell. 

Lexa shook her head as she was broken out of the spell. Glancing up at Raven she blushed a little at being caught staring at Clarke. “Well let me know if you need anything else, otherwise have a good night.” She stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Raven had a huge grin on her face as she looked at Clarke. “She is such an amazing woman” She said, motioning over her shoulder at the door Lexa had just walked out through.

“She is, Isn’t She?” Clarke agreed with a thoughtful smile.


	12. How about a walk?

Clarke walked around the lounge collecting the last of the plates and mugs left behind by the guests. The only light in the room was coming from the fireplace. She gazed over at Roan curled up and sleeping on the couch closest to the fire. She was glad that she had gone out to go and get him, no one should have to sleep outside in the cold on a night like this… or any night. She was about to take the dirty dishes into the back when she noticed a light coming from a door that was slightly ajar off to the side of the room. Setting the dirty mugs aside on the service station Clarke approached the ajar door with caution. Silently opening the door, Clarke found herself to be in what looked like an old storage room/office. There were storage shelves packed high with what could only be considered junk, but as she followed the shelves deeper into the room she turned a corner and came across a sight that took her breathe away. Lexa was sitting quietly behind a desk surrounded by wood shavings as she sat there carving a chunk of wood in her hand into what would presumably become a wooden figurine if the other figurines on the desk were anything to go by. As Clarke tried to get a closer look she accidentally stepped on a creaky floorboard which caused Lexa to jump in surprise. “Hey, Uh…” Lexa looked down at the figurine in her hand and quickly tried to hide it.

“So…. You’re an artist” Clarke stated with a small smile as she pointed towards the figurine in Lexa’s before she could hide it away.

Lexa ducked her head, blushing a little. “Oh no, I’m just a tinkerer. You’re up late”

“Yeah, I was just cleaning up. Do you need anything?” Clarke asked.

“Oh no, I’m good thanks. You should get some sleep though.” Lexa smiled.

“Uh, yeah, probably.” Clarke agreed with a smile. Looking around at all the junk on the shelves she turned to Lexa with a grin “Are you opening a Dollar store?”

Lexa blushed a little at that, shaking her head slightly embarrassed. “Uh, no. No, I volunteered to help with the Santa Dinner. Those are items for the silent Auction. Long-time Tradition around here. We are trying to raise some money for the local soup kitchen. It was kind of a rough year for a lot of folks, so.” Lexa handed Clarke a flyer regarding the Santa Dinner.

Clarke now took a closer look at the objects on the shelves. It really was just cheap Junk. “Wow” She stated.

Lexa looked around a little dejectedly, she knew that the stuff on the shelves was junk and that it would not raise much money, but she had been busy with the Inn and hadn’t had enough time to go out and get donations or better gifts for the silent Auction.

Taking pity on Lexa, Clarke picked up a little plastic dancing bobble head Santa figurine and held it out to Lexa. “I mean, look this alone would raise… a couple million easy.” She joked with a grin.

“Yeah, you can have that. There is… more where that came from.” Lexa smirked as she held out another dancing Santa Bobble head.

“What!?” Clarke asked in fake shock.

“Yeah.” Lexa grinned.

“Thank you. I will treasure it forever.” Clarke stated with a joking smile as she held the small Santa to her chest.

“I just haven’t had a lot of time to bug local businesses for donations. Which is why I have… Beautiful items like this for Auction.” Lexa tried to explain as she held up what could possibly be described as the ugliest hat Clarke had ever seen.

“And when is it?” Clarke asked.

“Day after Tomorrow” Lexa grimaced.

“Ooh…” Clarke winced. 

“I know. Believe me. I know. It’s just been a little crazy around here with the storm.” Lexa muttered.

“Yeah.” Clarke agreed, not wanting Lexa to feel too bad.

Looking around the room Clarke made her way closer to the desk and picked up a little wooden figurine reindeer “Hey! This could actually fetch a price. It’s adorable. Did you do this?” Clarke asked as she held it up to examine it.

“Yeah, that’s just… I was just messing around.” Lexa mumbled as she took it out of Clarke’s hands and threw it back on the desk.

“You should do something with these.” Clarke tried again, but after the look Lexa gave her she decided maybe it was time to drop it. “Okay, you are the artist. But you should know that you are very talented.”

“Thank you.” Lexa smiled.

There was an awkward pause as they both stared at each other, but neither moved. Eventually Clarke broke the stare and blushed a little before taking a step back and motioning back out the door. “Well, I’m going to bed, so…”

“Okay.” Lexa nodded.

Clarke started walking towards the door when a thought crossed her mind. “Do you always do this much to help people?” She asked.

“Yeah, whenever I can.” Lexa answered honestly. Then added “You help people too.”

“Not like you” Clarke disagreed.

“Well I think Roan out there would beg to differ.” Lexa stated with a small smirk.

Clarke nodded. “I’m really going to go to bed this time.” She tried again.

“Okay.” Lexa nodded. But then she realised that she didn’t want to let the blonde go just yet. “Hold On. Uh… do you maybe want to go for a walk?” She asked a little nervously.

“Outside?” Clarke gasped with wide eyes.

“Yes.”

“Now?” She queried. Surely Lexa didn’t want her to go outside in this weather. Sure the storm had passed, but it was still freezing out there. There was no way she was going to set one foot outside.

“I want to show you something.” Lexa explained still sounding a little nervous.

“Uh… Okay.” She agreed hesitantly. But suddenly a thought crossed her mind “Can I…”

“Yes?” Lexa asked with a grin thinking she already knew what was coming.

“Borrow a warmer coat.” Clarke mumbled “You are right, I do have a lack of clothes problem.” Clarke admitted blushing a little. 

Lexa just laughed and nodded her head as she made her way over to the cloak room to find something for Clarke to wear.

 

******************************

 

The two women walked side by side down the street. Both were bundled up in warm clothes and they chatted easily as they walked.

“I think you are really good at what you do, and you are a talented artist.” Clarke complimented Lexa with a genuine smile. “I think if you just made a few big bold moves, you could do so much more.” She encouraged.

“Yeah well, sometimes Big Bold moves don’t work out so great.” Lexa muttered bitterly.

“Right, New York.” Clarke nodded her head in understanding.

Lexa suddenly stopped and looked at Clarke sharply. “What do you mean New York?”

“I… I…” Clarke panicked, she didn’t know what to say, so she just stared guiltily back at Lexa.

“Uncle Gus.” Lexa scoffed as she shook her head. She should have known better than to leave the blonde alone with her interfering uncle.

“We had to talk about something while the cookies were baking.” Clarke confessed still feeling a little guilty.

Lexa stared at Clarke for a few moments deciding what to do. In the end she decided she would rather tell Clarke her side of the story rather than leave Clarke with whatever Gustus had told her. “I guess I’m an idiot. I never expected anything. We were in different worlds. She worked in finance, I was a… struggling philosophy student, but… True love, right? I don’t know, I really thought she was the one.” Lexa shook her head, admonishing herself for being so naïve. She took a deep breath and then continued. “So we’re having this romantic dinner and out of nowhere in the middle of the seafood risotto she looks at me and just says “It’s over” Bam! Right then they start playing Silent Night.” 

Clarke thinks back to the other night when Lexa just short of smashed the juke box machine in when that particular song came on. “So no every time the song comes on you…”

Lexa nodded self-consciously “Yeah, it’s pretty stupid right? You’d think I’d be able to get over it by now.”

Clarke shook her head. “I don’t know, I think some things you never actually get over.” She stopped and looked Lexa in the eye as she said this so that Lexa knew she was telling the truth and not judging her for not letting go. She then realised that they had wandered off the main street and were taking a side path into the woods. “You wanted to show me something?” Clarke reminded.

“Yeah, we are almost there. It’s right that way.” Lexa confirmed.

“Okay” Clarke replied keeping her fingers crossed that this wasn’t the part where the nice small town girl led her into the woods to kill her.

Just as Clarke was about to once again question where they were going they rounded a corner and Clarke was faced with a dozen beautiful life size wood carvings.

“Wow! You made all these? They are Stunning.” Clarke was amazed.

“Thanks. They are a big hit with the tourists that come around Christmas.” Lexa explained, a little proud of herself.

“Well… they are a bit hit with this tourist” Clarke confirmed before turning to Lexa and continuing in a quiet voice “… and so is the artist.”

Lexa’s cheeks were burning as she blushed. “Well, the tourist isn’t so bad herself.” She replied with a shy smile.

Clarke looked at Lexa and thought about how much the girl had opened up to her and she felt like she wanted to do the same. “When I was a teenager, my dad died. That’s a thing I can’t get over.”

Lexa reached for Clarkes hand and squeezed it lightly. “I am so sorry.”

“Thanks. He came from a beautiful little town, just like this one. And I could never bring myself to go back.” Clarke explained. “I guess I’m just scared. Once he was gone, I just… I started living life as if nothing else mattered because at the time, the way I felt… nothing else did.” Clarke let out a slow steady breath, feeling like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She hadn’t admitted how she had felt for a very long time, and it felt good to talk about it. Turning to face Lexa she took another deep breath and then looked her in the eye. “But these past few days… you… you’ve taught me that some things really do matter.”

Lexa looked down at Clarke and thought about just how much the girl seemed to have changed from the girl who arrived a few days earlier. Here stood a beautiful caring young woman who had a bigger heart than she realised and knew what the pain of loss felt like. Lexa looked into the beautiful Blue eyes that had first caught her attention as she screamed at a woman with runaway luggage. Without a conscience thought her eyes dropped to Clarke’s lips and she noticed the girl subtly lick them to moisten them just a bit. When she looked up again she noticed that Clarke too was looking at her lips. Taking a deep breath Lexa slowly leant in, stopping halfway, and giving Clarke the opportunity to meet her in the middle.

Clarke could feel butterflies in her stomach, they were going crazy in there and she couldn’t deny she was drawn to Lexa. This calm sturdy force who was so gentle and caring and always willing to help someone in need. Clarke couldn’t help but look down at Lexa’s lips and wish they were on hers at that very moment. She noticed Lexa lean in and felt herself respond in kind. 

She leant in, but just as their lips were about to meet Clarke remembered why she was here and she realised she couldn’t do this while she wasn’t being completely honest with Lexa about who she was. “I can’t! I… I’m so sorry!” She apologised as she pulled back, breaking the spell that had fallen over them.

“Oh! Yeah, no, no, I am so sorry, so sorry! You were talking about your dad and I didn’t… I don’t…” Lexa started rambling, clearly embarrassed.

“You are so great” Clarke tried to explain.

“Not that great… I dragged you up here to look at a bunch of nothing.” Lexa was clearly hurt and was kicking herself for thinking Clarke would ever be interested in her in that way.

“No! No, not nothing. Not nothing.” Clarke tried to reassure her. She felt terrible that Lexa thought that she was the problem, that she had made a mistake but it was all Clarke’s own fault. “It’s lovely and so is your company… and… I should go. Goodnight Lexa.” Clarke quickly spun around and started walking away, trying to get as far from Lexa as she could. She looked up and realised that she was facing a forest with no pathway. Turning around she nodded her head at Lexa “Going the wrong way. Yep, yep I got it.” She got back on the path and rushed back to the inn and up to her room.

 

Once back in her room Clarke went into the en-suite bathroom and started stripping down, as she was about to remove her jacket though she checked her pockets to make sure they were empty. They weren’t. Clarke pulled out a little dancing bobble head Santa. Placing him carefully down on the counter Clarke bobbed him on the head and watched him dance with a small smile on her face. Looking up at herself in the mirror she couldn’t help but ask herself. “What are you doing?”

Looking down at the Santa again Clarke couldn’t help but think back to earlier in the evening when Lexa had given her the figurine. A figurine that was supposed to go on auction alongside a very ugly hat. Suddenly inspiration hit Clarke. She may not be able to be totally honest with Lexa yet, after all she still had to wait for Indra to appear, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t help her in the meantime. And if there is one thing Clarke Griffin knows how to do it is schmooze people for donations. Staring at herself in the mirror Clarke silently vowed to help Lexa make this the best Santa Dinner Silent Auction in the history of Snow Falls. Even if it was the last thing she did.


	13. Unexpected arrival...

Clarke was up and dressed and ready to go as soon as the sun came up. She made her way down to the diner hoping that Gustus would already be there setting up for breakfast. She wasn’t disappointed, and Gustus looked pleased to see her as he made his way over to unlock the door and let her in.

“Good morning Clarke. You are here early this morning, are you ready for today’s lesson?”

“Hi Gus, actually I need a favour.” Clarke grinned.

“Oh…. What can I help you with?” Gustus asked with raised eyebrows.

“I need cookies, lots and lots of cookies!” 

“Well we better get baking then!” Gustus laughed.

Clarke and Gustus set to work, Gustus showing her how to make the first batch of cookies before heading out to finish setting up the diner. Clarke was a cookie machine. While one batch was in the oven she was decorating another and when that was done she placed them in some mason jars Gustus had in a box in the back to be recycled. As the finishing touch she decorated the jars with beautiful Christmas ribbon she found in the store next door. 

She took a step back and admired her hard work. In front of her was a table full of cookie mason jars wrapped so beautifully she considered giving herself a pat on the back. She just knew this plan was going to work, and phase one was complete. If there was one thing she learnt in her years schmoozing rich business men into donating ridiculous amounts of cash it was that people were a little more giving if they felt like that were getting something in return and who didn’t like homemade cookies? 

**********************************

Clarke borrowed Gustus’s car and drove to every store and local business in town with a jar of Christmas cookies and her signature Griffin Smile. The locals may have been hesitant at first, but no one could resist her powerful charms and once people started feeling the Christmas spirit they became more generous and more giving. In no time at all the car was full to the brim and Clarke had had to start tying objects to the roof and she had a wide variety of items to go up for the silent auction. A beautiful art piece, a fabulous evening dress, bird houses, guitars and a teddy bear so big he almost didn’t fit in the car. Never mind in the car, they were in fact almost running out of room on top of the car too. There was a kayak, a set of skis, a sleigh and a bicycle all strapped precariously to the roof of the car and Clarke gave a satisfied nod to herself as she looked at it one last time before she stepped into her last store of the day. As she approached the young bored looking man behind the counter she already knew this was going to be a hard shell to crack and so she prepared herself for battle with the biggest smile she could muster. 

“A silent auction?” The man repeated in a bored tone.

“Uh huh. For the Santa dinner.” She confirmed cheerily.

“I already donate on-line.” 

“But it’s for local Charity. Every dollar from the auction goes to help your friends and neighbours right here in snow falls.” She explained.

“I already pay my taxes. And plenty of them.” He complained.

“Come on, its Christmas.”

“Sorry miss, that just doesn’t cut it with me.” He shook his head.

“Please.” She begged. “You get cookies.” She tried again as she held up the jar.

“You are going to have to do much better than that.”

Clarke thought about it for a moment. If she was being completely honest with herself this is exactly the kind of comment she would have made just a few days ago. Sure she ran charity events and collected donations, but those were generally all for kids. It seemed that there was some sort of unspoken rule that kids deserved charity but adults should sort themselves out and stop wasting tax payer’s money, but Lexa was right, sometimes people just need a little help and even small acts of kindness can go a long way in making a difference in someone’s life. And so with this thought in mind she stared the man in the eye and spoke with such conviction that there was no denying it. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Five minutes later she walked out of the store with a brand new laptop for auction and a satisfied grin on her face. 

************************************

Sheriff Octavia Blake stopped by first thing in the morning with coffee to chat to her friend about how the repairs were going in town after the storm. “Well they will have the power back up and running for those folks by tomorrow morning. Thanks for all your help Lexa.” She stated gratefully.

“My pleasure.” Lexa nodded with a smile.

Octavia was about to leave when she glanced up at the driveway leading to the Inn and did a double take as she noticed what was clearly a hazard driving towards them. She turned to Lexa who looked just as confused as she did at the car that was making its way towards them that had been packed so full that there was only space for the driver inside and the roof of the car looked like it may cave in at any point. Slowly the car pulled up and Clarke Greenfield jumped out, a huge grin on her face as she spotted Lexa standing on the porch.

“Hi!” She shouted as she raced up the steps.

“Hi! What is all of this?” Lexa asked in confusion gesturing to her uncle’s car.

“This is your Dinner with Santa silent auction.” She stated proudly before continuing. “Every item was donated by local merchant’s right here in Snow Falls.”

“Oh! You’re kidding! You did all this?” Lexa asked in disbelief. She was stunned. 

“Uh-huh.” Clarke grinned.

“How?”

“Well, you don’t spend this long in the gift… baking business without picking up a trick or two.” Clarke stuttered as she realised how close she was to accidentally outing herself.

“Gift-baking business?” Lexa asked with raised eyebrows.

Clarke huffed in annoyance at nearly being caught. “Lexa, have you ever heard the expression 'don’t look a gift horse in the mouth'?”

Lexa nodded in agreement. Clarke was right. Who cared how she did it, the fact was that Clarke had saved the auction and they were going to be able to raise a lot of money and help a lot of people. “I don’t know what to say!” 

“Seems like “thank you” wouldn’t be out of place.” Octavia smirked.

“Thank you.” Lexa whispered as she took a step closer to hug Clarke.

Clarke couldn’t help but breath in Lexa’s amazing scent as they hugged. She practically melted into her arms and decided this was the best hug of all time. 

Octavia rolled her eyes as she stared at the idiots in front of her who had finally broken apart from their hug and were staring at each other like love-struck teenagers. In fact they were so busy staring at each other that neither of them noticed the red BMW convertible drive up to the inn and pull up behind them. Or the man that got out and glared at what he was seeing.

“Man this really is a friendly little town.” He commented drily.

Clarke quickly jumped back from Lexa, turning around in shock. “Finn? F-Finn! What are you doing here?”

“Well, uh… I heard about the storm so I figured I’d come up here and rescue you.” He stated with a grin as he approached Clarke and moved in for a big showy kiss, clearly stating his territory before turning to glare at Lexa “Although its looks like you are doing just fine without me.”

“I thought the roads were closed.” Lexa stated icily as she glared at the man in front of her who was all over Clarke with his stupid greasy gelled hair and overpowering cologne.  
“I guess they are open now.” Octavia stated uncertainly as she watched the drama unfold before her.

“Yeah, they’re open now.” Finn smirked as pulled Clarke into his side, not so subtly leaving his hand on her ass.

Clarke smiled uncomfortably, stepping out to the side and out of Finns clutches, and gesturing to Lexa she made the necessary introductions. “Finn, this is Lexa Woods. She manages the Inn and Lexa, this is Finn Collins my fiancé.

“Good to meet you.” Lexa held out her hand to Finn.

“Yeah, same to you.” He shook her hand, squeezing just a little too hard, trying to assert him dominance, but Lexa didn’t so much as flinch.

“Octavia Blake.” Octavia stepped forward, hand out to introduce herself and maybe diffuse the tension. “I’m the Sheriff here in snow falls. You need anything don’t hesitate to call.”

“Well, thank you Octavia,” Finn smiled as he shook her hand, “but I’m pretty good at taking care of things on my own.” He stated with a glare in Lexa’s direction.

“Uh… come on honey, do you want to see the inn? It’s beautiful.” Clarke tried to catch his attention and pull him away.

“Yeah, I’d love to” Finn smiled at her as he let her lead the way.

“Okay.” Clarke opened the door and walked in, trying to get Finn as far from Lexa as possible.

“Nice to meet you all.” Finn nodded at the two ladies on the porch as he followed Clarke inside.

“Well he seems like a nice guy.” Octavia stated sarcastically as the door shut behind the couple.

*********************************

As soon as the door shut behind them Clarke turned on Finn. “You didn’t have to be so rude back there.”

“Oh well excuse me, I’ll try be more polite next time some chick is all over my fiancé.” Finn stated sarcastically back at her. Back when he and Clarke had first started dating and Clarke had told him that she was bi his first reaction had been excitement at the possibility of a threesome, but Clarke quickly shut that possibility down and informed him that she was a one person kind of girl and there would be no threesomes in their future. To be honest he hadn’t thought much more about it after that, but driving up to the inn and seeing Clarke in the arms of the hot brunette just didn’t sit right with him, and for the first time he wasn’t sure if he was okay with this whole bisexual thing.

“She was thanking me. I bailed her out, helped with a charity auction, that’s all.” Clarke tried to explain, though she wasn’t sure if even she believed that. To be honest she hadn’t even given a thought to Finn since she had left New York.

“Look, I thought you came here to deliver these Christmas letters and now, you’re what? Mother Theresa of Snow Falls?” Finn shouted as he grabbed her hand and head towards the stairs to where he assumed the rooms were. “Come on, let’s get you packed and get you out of here.” 

Clarke ripped her hand out of his and stood her ground. “I can’t leave yet. Aunt Indra still hasn’t shown up.”

“Aunt Indra?” He scoffed. “Is this that stupid Tradition nonsense again? What about us? We’ve got a flight in 24 hours.”

To be honest she hadn’t even given a thought to Finn or their trip since she left New York and now she felt a little guilty. “Okay look, If Indra doesn’t show up by tomorrow morning we’ll go, alright? I’ll leave the letters at the front desk and… figure out a way to explain it to my mother later.” 

Finn shook his head in disbelief “Okay great, so what am I supposed to do until then?”

Clarke walked him up to her room door and handed him the key. “Well, you’ve been on the road all day, you must be exhausted. So, why don’t you go in there and take a nap, and I’ll be back after I help Gustus with the Christmas tea.” She offered.

“Okay” He agreed.

“Oh! And remember, I’m not Clarke Griffin here. Just plain old Clarke Greenfield.” She reminded him as turned to go back down the lobby.

“Clarke Greenfield?” He asked in confusion.

“Clarke Greenfield.” She confirmed.

“Okay”

“Great, Bye!” Clarke shouted as she ran off, finally glad to get some distance from Finn. She really needed to clear her head.

Finn unlocked the door when and was about to enter when a thought hit him. “Wait… Christmas tea?” He shouted after Clarke in confusion. After not receiving a reply he shook his head and decided it really didn’t matter and he walked into the room… only to come face to face with a young Latina woman and her screaming baby pacing around the room and a young girl jumping up and down on the bed.

“Can I help you?” The woman shouted over the babies screaming.

Finn just shook his head and slammed the door shut behind him as he left. He had only been in this one horse town for 20 minutes and he couldn’t wait to leave.


	14. Oops....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> Just wanted to thank you all for being so amazing and for all the encouraging comments. They mean the world to me.
> 
> So just a heads up, this is my first fic and I'm learning as I go. I tried using Italics for the first time on here and I have no idea what Im doing, so forgive me if things look a little wonky... I tried.

Clarke made her way down the street towards the church where the Santa Dinner was to be held the following evening. Walking through the door Clarke came across an organised chaos. There were people everywhere putting up decorations and setting up the tables and chairs, all trying to get ready for the highlight of the Christmas season.

It was easy to spot Lexa in all the hustle and bustle, she was across the room helping the men move tables into place and Clarke found herself staring at Lexa’s toned arms as she moved the heavy weight with ease. Clearly Lexa was not afraid to get stuck in and do some heavy lifting with the guys. Clarke couldn’t help but think of how at previous events Finn had set up for work he had always just stood in the back barking orders at workers to hurry up and stop being so lazy.

Lexa spotted Clarke and after setting the table in the correct spot she excused herself from the guys she was helping and ran over to greet her.  
“Hey.” She greeted cheerily as she lifted her shirt to wipe the sweat off her forehead and out of her eyes. 

Clarke was greeted with a sight of Lexa’s toned abs and for a moment got distracted and forgot why she was there. Noticing the strange look Lexa was giving her as she stared at the brunette Clarke quickly shook herself out of her musings and got back to the task on hand. “Hey! Uh, Gustus asked me to pick up the car so I can…”

“Christmas tea. Yes. Thank you.” Lexa cut her off with a smile.

Looking at Lexa’s easy smile Clarke suddenly felt guilty for how things had gone this morning and how Finn had treated Lexa. “I’m sorry about Finn. He doesn’t mean to be rude, it’s just the kind of way that he is.” She apologised.

“Yeah, hey, don’t worry about it. I probably would have acted the same way” She waved the apology over.

“Actually, I don’t think you would’ve” Clarke admitted smiling sadly.

Lexa suddenly looked guilty. “Look, uh… about last night, um, I wanted to apologise. I knew you were engaged. And I never should have let that happen.” Lexa couldn’t believe that she had tried to kiss an engaged woman. After everything with Costia she never thought that she would be the type to make a move on another guy’s girl.

Clarke could see the guilt in Lexa’s eyes, but she had been just as guilty last night. She shook her head stubbornly. “Well there were two of us out there.”

“Yeah, but you’ve been honest and upfront with me from the start, and I should have respected that.” Lexa stated firmly. 

Clarke felt a stab in her gut, guilt tearing her in two. Lexa was such an amazing woman and Clarke was lying to her. She knew the rules her mother had set out were there for a reason, but surely her mother would understand her need to be honest with Lexa, that she couldn’t bear keeping the truth from her any longer. She made up her mind, consequences be damned she was going to tell Lexa the truth. “The thing is… Lexa….” She started.

But Lexa interrupted her. “Just hear me out on this, the thing is it’s been a long time since I’ve felt like I could trust someone again. And, I don’t know, you’re different. You’re honest. And it was just nice to feel that way again, but I let my feeling get the best of me and I’m sorry. So… can we be friends?” She asked with a hopeful look in her eye. 

Clarke felt like she couldn’t breathe, the guilt was crushing her. She had to do this now. “Hey, I… I’ve got something to tell you.” She tried again only to be interrupted by a man on a ladder that was balancing precariously against a wall calling for Lexa to come help stabilise him.

Lexa jumped into action as she made her way over to help Bob not break his neck she called over to Clarke. “I’ll be right back.” 

But when she turned around to go back over to hear what Clarke had to say she was gone.

***************************************************

Back at the Inn evening tea was in full swing and Clarke was running around making sure everyone was well taken care of and in a festive mood. She moved through the guests with ease, making small talk and enthusiastically passing out the Christmas cookies that she had made just that morning with a sense of pride.

The newlywed couple called her over and the husband held up the cookie that he had just taken a bite out of… his fourth one if he was being honest. “I come from a family of pastry chefs and can I just say these are truly the most delicious Christmas cookies I’ve ever tasted.” He stated with a big grin as he took another bite.

“Really?” Clarke asked in disbelief. “Thank you.” She gushed. She couldn’t believe that people loved her cookies. It felt so good to make something from scratch, put all her love and effort into it and then share her hard work with others, and then to be acknowledged for her hard work… well that was just an amazing feeling.

Clarke was positively beaming as she handed out more cookies. “Hi!” She greeted Finn enthusiastically as he walked into the lobby. 

“Are we in the stone-age? I can’t get a signal to save my life.” He grumbled as he held his phone up in the air in the hopes of finding signal.

Clarke just shook her head at how grumpy he was. “Well, do you want a cookie to cheer you up?” She offered.

“You know I don’t do sugar.” He scoffed, looking at her in disgust as if she had suggested something truly awful. 

“I made them myself.” She tried to encourage him. She wanted him to try her amazing cookies and see just how hard she had worked.

Glaring at her he picked up a gingerbread man cookie and bit off its head. “You made these… seriously?” He asked in scepticism.

Taking note of his tone of voice Clarke was offended and hurt. “Is that so hard to believe?” 

“Well, it’s a long way from “Party Girl Griffin” to Suzy homemaker.” Finn glared at her.

Clarke’s eyes grew big and she quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard him. Seeing they were safe for now she grabbed him and dragged him into the corner where no one could hear them talk. “Can you please cut it out with the “Party Girl Griffin” stuff? Nobody knows who I am here.” She whispered angrily.

Finn rolled his eyes at how dramatic Clarke was being. “Anyway what is with the whole waitress act?” He asked.

Clarke shuffled on her feet in discomfort. “Well, I ran out of money, so I’ve been helping out around here to earn my keep.”

Finn scoffed. “Why didn’t you just call me, or your mother?”

Clarke stood up straight, squaring her shoulders and looked Finn in the eye. “Because I said that I was going to do this on my own and I meant it. No one knows who I am. They treat me like a regular person here and I like it.” She answered confidently.

Finn just shook his head. “You are starting to scare me.” He couldn’t understand why she was acting like this.

Deciding she didn’t want to fight, Clarke tried to change the subject “So, what do you think of the cookie?” she asked hopefully, looking for his approval.

“I think… you can play all lovey dovey with the locals all you want, but trust me you’re never going to be one of them.” He growled as he threw down the cookie and held up his phone once again. “I gotta find a signal.” He sneered as he stormed out the inn.

Gustus watched on from across the room. He was proud of Clarke and what she had accomplished in one day. She was a fast learner and a hard worker and she seemed so at ease here in the inn, interacting with the guests and making sure everything ran smoothly while his niece was at the church setting things up. He had seen how happy and proud of herself the girl was, and rightly so. At least she had been happy until that man child she called a fiancé had stormed in and thrown a tantrum over the fact that he couldn’t get phone service. He watched on sadly as Clarke offered him one of her cookies that she was so proud of and he couldn’t help but notice how Clarke held her breathe when he bit into it, waiting for his approval but the man child had simply thrown the cookie back on the plate and stormed off, oblivious to the woman he left behind whose heart was breaking. He had grown attached to the girl and had seen the way she and his niece looked at each other. He didn’t want either of them to get hurt, but this man child was trouble and Gustus couldn’t wait till he got back on his high horse and left town, preferably without Clarke.

**********************************************************

Later that night Clarke sat alone upstairs in her room waiting for Finn to get over his tantrum and come back to the inn. Sitting there staring at the box of letters that had started this whole thing Clarke couldn’t help but feel guilty for lying to everyone, especially Lexa. When she first arrived here it had been all about staking her claim as the CEO of her mother’s company. Now though she couldn’t help but feel she would gladly give up the title if it meant she could be honest with all the amazing people around her. She hated lying to Lexa more than anything. Feeling a little sorry for herself Clarke subconsciously reached over for the box of letters and opened it, hoping to find some answers hidden in the box of memories. 

She reached into the bottom of the box and found the first letter and oldest letter. Carefully she opened it up and read.

_‘December 1981_  
_Well Indra, we did it. For a couple of gals who weren’t much good at showing their feelings we’ve started a company that lets other people express their own._  
_Here’s to a great first year, and the friend ship that made it happen._  
_Abby’_

Clarke looked down at the photo in the envelope with the letter. It was a picture of a young Abby and Indra smiling brightly at the camera. There were countless pictures in the box spanning throughout the years, pictures of Abby and Jake, and then later of Clarke as she grew up. Once she started going through the letters and pictures she found that she couldn’t stop.

_‘December 1982  
Abby, you were right about starting our first retail store in Millbury, but you got to admit I was the one who picked Bill Parcells to be head coach. Go Giants!’_

 

_‘December 1993  
The company’s growing, and so is our little Clarke. She is so serious about gymnastics, so focused. I can already see the strong young woman she’s going to become.’_

 

_‘December 1996  
Another record year for us Abby. You know maybe it’s time we started looking into this internet sales thing. It might really take off. Sorry to hear about Jake’s Illness but he’s a strong man and with you and Clarke by his side I’m sure he’s going to be able to pull through.’_

 

_‘Jakes been gone a while now but I still feel myself calling his name when I come home. Don’t know how I’d get through this if it wasn’t for Clarke and for you, my good friend. Merry Christmas.’_

 

Clarke couldn’t read anymore, the tears were silently streaming down her face and she felt her heart breaking once more. She missed her father so much that sometimes it physically ached. She was so caught up in her memories of her father that she didn’t hear the knock at the door, or hear it open and close. She only realised that she was no longer alone when a little hand on her knee brought her back to the present.

Tris was standing in front of Clarke, wise eyes staring at her sadly “My mommy said to tell you that we are all out of Hot Chocolate.” She explained quietly.

“Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.” Clarke promised as she tried to wipe the tears from her face.

“Are you crying?” Tris asked softly.

“A little bit.” Clarke answered honestly with a small smile.

Tris looked at Clarke for a moment, deep in thought as if she was considering something of great importance before she walked over to the bed and picked up the bear Clarke had given her the night before. She slowly handed it over to Clarke before she explained. “He helped me.” She said with confidence.

Clarke looked between the bear and the little girl and decided to give them both a hug. “Thank you.”

***********************************************************

Across town Lexa made her way over to the only bar Snow Falls had to offer. It had been a long day setting up at the church and she needed a break badly. Walking up to the bar she set her money on the counter and ordered. “Jack on the rocks. You know what? Forget the rocks!”

“It’s the innkeeper”

Lexa looked up to see who had spoken to her only to find Clarke’s fiancé drunkenly sitting on the stool next to her. Uh of course he was there, it’s the only bar in town. The question was… where was Clarke?

“It’s the fiancé” She replied in a bored tone taking note of the martini the man was drinking.

“Uh-huh” He grinned.

“Enjoying our little town?” Lexa asked, trying to be friendly and make an effort with the man Clarke was engaged to.

“Oh yes. I’m especially looking forward to spending the night on a cot in the hallway.” He replied sarcastically. “So how come you’re not back there enjoying the Christmas hoo-ha?” He asked.

Lexa exhaled and took a sip of her drink. “Sometimes you just need a break… even from Christmas.”

“Tell me about it.” He confirmed. “My family wasn’t much for tradition. More of the… buy the next shiny new thing crowd.” Finn explained.

“Right.”

Finn drunkenly laughed “I gotta hand it to you. Never in a million years did I think I’d see Clarke Griffin making Christmas cookies.”

“I thought she was a baker.” Lexa asked in confusion.

“A Baker? Yeah… you’re kidding right?” Finn scoffed.

Lexa was about to ask this guy if he even knew who his fiancé was when alarm bells went off in her head. “Wait… Clarke Griffin?” Lexa asked in confusion. “As in Abigail Griffin? As in Abigail Griffin of Home & Hearth Gifts?” She asked, a cold feeling spreading through her stomach.

Finn quickly realised his mistake and tried to backtrack. “Do me a favour, forget I said anything alright?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure yeah.” Lexa just nodded, but she was already paying her tab and putting her jacket back on as she stumbled in her haste to get out of there.

“Merry Christmas” Finn shouted after her, oblivious to the bomb he had just dropped and the repercussions that would follow.

****************************************************************

Lexa practically ran back to the inn and raced to her office and to her computer, cursing at how slow the internet was as she googled ‘Clarke Griffin’.

Looking at the headlines that appeared in the results page Lexa couldn’t help but feel sick. Pictures of a drunk ‘Party Girl Griffin’ were everywhere and the latest piece of news was a video of Clarke knocking over a Christmas tree with the headline ‘Party Girl Griffin CRASHES Christmas Ball’.

Lexa felt close to tears, she couldn’t believe she had trusted Clarke, couldn’t believe this was this stupid, especially after everything she had been through with Costia. Lexa wanted to kick herself. Staring at the screen her features hardened as she raised her walls and closed herself off.

“Clarke Griffin… Fooled again.”


	15. Goodbye...

Clarke stood in the lobby with Raven and her two daughters. With the roads open again repair trucks had been able to enter the small town and the electricity had been restored to the whole town meaning that all the townsfolk who had been forced to evacuate could finally go home.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye.” Clarke said a little sadly as she hugged Raven. 

“I’m sad you’re leaving.” Raven replied with a small smile. She had enjoyed spending time with Clarke and though she was happy to be going back to her own home she was sad when she saw Clarke packing her bags to go home as well. Though it had only been a few days I it felt like Clarke was a part of Snow Falls, not to mention how generous Clarke had been to offer up her room for her and her two daughters. “I don’t even know how to thank you for everything you’ve done.”

“You already did.” Clarke smiled genuinely at Raven and then knelt down so she was eye level with Tris. “You guys kept me company through a scary storm. Now, there is someone who wants to go home with you.” Clarke grinned as she held out the stuffed Christmas bear from her room that Tris had been sleeping with.

“What do you say Tris?” Raven grinned.

“Thank you.” She cried as she held the bear to her chest. Then suddenly looked serious. “Now I’m sorry, but we have to go now. Santa comes tonight and we cannot be late!” 

“Oh, of course!” Clarke laughed. “Merry Christmas.” She shouted as the little girl picked up her bag and marched out the Inn.

“Thank you.” Raven shouted back as she ran after her daughters retreating figure.

Clarke couldn’t help but laugh at just how much energy Tris had, she was always bouncing all over the place, she wasn’t sure how poor Raven kept up. 

As she stood there staring at the retreating family she couldn’t help but hear what sounded like an elephant stomping down the stairs. Turning to see what it was Clarke was met with the image of a red faced Finn dragging their cases down the stairs. 

“I’m going to take this out to the car… if my back doesn’t give out first.” He huffed, then threw a dirty look at Lexa who was standing behind the reception desk. “Hopefully there will be better bell boys in Maui, right babe?” He shouted loudly over his shoulder as he walked past Clarke towards the door.

Clarke rolled her eyes at how childish Finn was behaving before she slowly made her way up to the Reception desk to talk to Lexa.

“On your way?” Lexa asked coldly as she stared down at the paperwork in front of her.

Clarke wasn’t sure what had Lexa so grumpy, the last time she had seen Lexa she had asked Clarke if they could be friends. She couldn’t understand what she was missing unless she was just upset that Clarke was leaving? “I guess so…” She replied a little unsure. “Did you hear from Indra? Phone call? Anything?”

“Sorry, nothing.” Lexa shook her head, still refusing to look up, almost blatantly ignoring Clarke now as she shuffled papers on the desk.

“Okay. Well, ah… if you could just give her this when you see her.” Clarke asked as she guiltily placed the letter box on the desk in front of Lexa. She caressed the top of the box lovingly as she pushed it forward. She felt so guilty just leaving it here with Lexa, but Finn had made it obvious that staying any longer in this town was not an option and she couldn’t wait for Indra forever.

“Yeah, I can’t. Sorry.” Lexa stated in a bored tone still not looking up at Clarke.

“What? Why?” Clarke was shocked that Lexa who so far had been so accommodating would refuse to help her.

“It’s like the sign says “ _Management will not be responsible for valuables _” and to the people in this town… these Christmas letters are pretty damn valuable.” Lexa was beyond angry now, she was almost shaking. She threw a piece of paper down on the table. “Here’s your bill. Now is your fiancé going to pay for this or should I just send an invoice to Home & Hearth Gifts?” Lexa finally looked her in the eye. Clarke was taken aback. Lexa who normally had such kind beautiful green eyes was now looking at her with such cold stony contempt. Clarke thought that this is what people meant when they said looks could kill. Her blood ran cold as realisation hit her.__

__“You know?” Clarke asked in a quiet voice._ _

__“Yeah. We may not have cell service here, but we do have the internet. Looked like that tree put up quite a fight.” Lexa snarled as she held up the picture of Clarke that had been on the front page after her incident at the Toys for Tot’s charity event._ _

__“Lexa…” Clarke gulped, looking between the picture and Lexa._ _

__“Hey, you know let’s just forget this whole thing huh.” Lexa laughed coldly as she ripped up the bill. “We ought to be honoured that New York City’s ‘Party Girl’ decided to stay in our little inn.”_ _

__Clarke felt like her insides were being torn apart seeing how hurt Lexa was and knowing that she was the cause. She had betrayed Lexa’s trust. “Lexa, I never wanted to lie to you. I just couldn’t tell anyone. Please, you have to understand.” Clarke tried to explain but was cut off._ _

__“Oh, yeah no I understand completely. You know, this is why I left New York. Because of people like you.” Lexa shook her head, tears sparkling in her eyes. She wouldn’t let Clarke see her cry. “Merry Christmas Miss Griffin.” She said in a hollow voice as she turned around and walked away._ _

__Clarke turned around slowly and made her way outside. She felt hollow. She had never meant to hurt Lexa and now she wouldn’t get a chance to make things right._ _

__She was so out of it she didn’t notice Gustus walking up to the Inn. He ran up and gave her a big bear hug._ _

__“Clarke! Leaving already? But it’s Christmas Eve.” He asked in confusion. He had been sure that she was going to stick around, at least until tonight, especially after all the work she had put into the auction._ _

__“I know, but I have to get back to the city.” She answered, still in a daze._ _

__“That’s too bad. I was hoping you’d come to the Santa dinner. I know that… Lexa was really looking forward to having you there too.” Gustus chuckled._ _

__“Yeah, well… thank you for everything.” Clarke robotically, she felt numb and just needed to get away._ _

__“Oh! I got you something.” Gustus shouted excitedly, handing over a rectangle box._ _

__“You didn’t have to do that.” Clarke replied guiltily looking up into his big kind eyes. She opened the box and looked down to see a black pair of oven mitts with _C.G. _embroidered on them.___ _

____“Your very own oven mitts.” He exclaimed proudly with a big grin._ _ _ _

____“Gustus…” Clarke was overcome with emotion. She didn’t know what to say, this giant bear of a man had shown her nothing but kindness since she arrived and all he had asked from her in return was that she not hurt his niece… and she couldn’t even manage that. She flung herself into his arms for another hug so that he wouldn’t see the tears in her eyes “Thank you. I… love them.” Their hug was broken apart a few moments later by incessant hooting by Finn trying to get Clarke to hurry up. She stepped back and wiped a tear from her eye._ _ _ _

____“Merry Christmas sweetheart. Don’t be a stranger.” Gustus smiled._ _ _ _

____“Merry Christmas.” Clarke replied as she turned to walk towards the waiting car._ _ _ _

____“Oh and, um tell your mom I said ‘hello’ too.” Gustus added with a grin._ _ _ _

____“I will. Thank you for keeping my secret.” Clarke smiled back at him._ _ _ _

____“I told you I would. Just remember… some secrets are too big a burden to keep.” Gustus said solemnly._ _ _ _

____Clarke was about to respond when Finn honked the horn again. “Okay. I gotta go.” She grumbled, shaking her head at how impatient Finn could be._ _ _ _

____“Bye.” Gustus waved at the two as they drove off, sad to see the girl go. He turned around and walked into the Inn with the morning pastries. Looking around he couldn’t see his niece anywhere. Setting the box down, he slowly walked towards the back storage room and knocked before opening the door._ _ _ _

____“Hello? Lexa?” he called out. When he got no response he walked further in to the room only to stop in his tracks at the sight before him. His beautiful niece sat at the desk playing with a small bobble head Santa as she sobbed. He cleared his throat to get her attention, and when she looked up his heart broke, her eyes were red and puffy and her tears had caused her makeup to run making her look like sad little raccoon. She looked so broken as she sat there and he couldn’t help but think about how long it had been since she had let anyone see her so vulnerable. He took a deep breath._ _ _ _

____“Want to talk about it?”_ _ _ _


	16. Realisations...

It started raining as soon as they hit the main road. The weather seemed fitting Clarke thought as they drove in silence. Everything was mess. Things had been going so well, she really felt at home back there in Snow Falls, but she had messed everything up. She had hurt Lexa, the last person on earth who deserved it. She felt lost. She needed a distraction, something to make her forget what she had done. She opened the box that she had been holding to her chest like a lifeline and started going through the letters.

“We’re cutting it kind of close, but we should have just enough time to throw some things in a bag and race to the airport.” Finn stated as he fiddled with the car GPS.

Clarke nodded, only half listening as she quickly rummaged through the letters looking for one in particular. “It’s not here.” She whispered.

“What?” Finn asked.

“The letter. I have all the letters dating back to 1981, but… but I don’t have the one from this year.” She panicked. 

“Maybe she didn’t write one.” Finn replied in a bored tone, not really caring.

“She must have. That was the whole point of me going to Snow Falls, so that… so that I would hand deliver the letter. And now I was planning to courier it to her from the airport. I… I must’ve left it at the inn. We have to go back.” Clarke shouted.

“Are you kidding? We will miss the flight!” Finn replied in disbelief.

“Finn, I have to get that letter.” Clarke argued.

Finn slammed his fist down on the steering wheel. “You know what, I’ve been pretty damn patient this whole time, but enough is enough! They are just a bunch of stupid letters. Who the hell cares?” He shouted.

“You don’t mean that.” Clarke said quietly in disbelief. How could he not understand how important this was to her?

“Yeah! As a matter of fact, I do. I am sick and tired of your mother’s neurotic cutesy family business traditions. Now can we please just drop it and enjoy our vacation.” He glared at her, daring her to bring it up again.

The car was silent as they continued down the road. Clarke inwardly fuming at Finn. Just as she was about to bring it up again the car started beeping.

“Great we need gas. Voice command find gas station.” Finn commanded the car. 

They drove a little further until they came up to the gas station. As Finn parked at the pump he took a deep breath and turned to Clarke “Look if your ‘girlfriend’ back there finds your letter at the hotel she’ll just send it to your office right. She knows how important it is to you, to your mother, to the company. That whole village is built around the Home and Hearth gifts legacy.”

Clarke thought about it, he was right Lexa did know how important it was to her and even though she was angry at her, Clarke had no doubt in her mind that Lexa would be the bigger person and send the letter to her if she found it. Looking up she saw a Snow Falls Bus at the stop filling up. It made her realise that she already missed the town and the girl in it, the girl who she had hurt, the girl who had somehow found out that she was Clark Griffin. But something didn’t sit right with Clarke… Realisation hit her once more. Slowly turning to Finn she asked him. “What makes you think she’d know who my mother is? How did she know who I am?”

Finn realised his mistake at once. Shaking his head he admitted it. “Ugh Maybe I let it slip out last night.”

“Why would you do that?” Clarke gasped.

“Look it was a mistake. She was going to find out sooner or later. What’s the big deal? Who cares what those people think?” He scoffed unapologetically. 

“I care! Me!” She screamed. “That’s the whole reason I went to Snow Falls, it was to learn from them!”

Finn actually laughed at that. “Oh please… what could you possibly learn from a bunch of stupid hicks? Look Baby… You don’t belong there and you know it.” He reasoned.

A calm spread over Clarke and everything became very clear. She looked up at the Bus once more and made up her mind. “Maybe I don’t belong there… But I know I don’t belong with you.” And with that Clarke slid her engagement ring off her ringer and placed it on the dashboard. She grabbed the letter box got out the car and slammed the door in his face.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Where are you going?” He shouted as he got out the car to follow her.

“Back to snow falls” She yelled back as she stomped off.

“And how do you plan on getting there?” He scoffed.

She turned around and smirked at him “I think I’ll take the bus.”

“What about Maui?” He whined. 

“You should go by yourself, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the company.” She grinned at him as she boarded the bus. She felt better already, she was going back to where she belonged.


	17. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well Folks this is it. The final Chapter.  
> Its been an amazing ride, and I can't thank enough for all your great and encouraging comments.  
> Hope you enjoy.

When Clarke finally made it back to Snow Falls it was dark already, so she went straight to the Church where Santa’s Dinner was taking place. When she snuck in through the backdoor the party was already in full swing.  
As she decided to head to the Auction tables the MC for the evening came on stage.

“Merry Christmas everybody! Okay so we are going to take a little break to let you enjoy some food and fun and a visit with Santa, but then right after that we will be back with a very special guest okay? Oh wait look, it’s the big man himself!” She announced and turned to welcome Santa onto the stage.

Clarke giggled to herself when she realised that Santa was actually Gustus in a Santa suit. Actually she couldn’t think of anyone more perfect to be Santa, Gustus was a giant teddy-bear and clearly great with kids, not to mention his bushy beard and arm tattoos made him look just like the Santa from Legend of the Guardians and he was always Clarke’s favourite Santa. 

“Ho ho ho Merry Christmas everyone.” Gustus bellowed and was quickly swarmed by an army of kids.

Clarke smiled to herself, and made her way over to the auction tables, looking over all the incredible donations and how they looked all set up. She took a step back from the guitar she was looking at and she accidentally bumped into someone. Turning around to apologise she was met with a sight that took her breath away. Lexa was standing in front of her looking breath taking in a beautiful black dress with her hair done up in striking intricate braids. It took Clarke a second to get her breath back but when she did she felt nervous and guilty once more. 

“Lexa… Look, I know that you have no reason to help me, but I lost one of the Christmas letters at the inn. Have you seen it?”

“Sorry, No.” Lexa replied still not looking Clarke in the eye, clearly still upset.

“Are you sure?” Clarke asked once more. If the letter wasn’t here she didn’t know where it could possibly be.

“Yep.” She confirmed, “So, where is your fiancé? Out waiting impatiently in the car? Too afraid to mingle with us common folk?” She scoffed quietly.

Clarke shook her head “He’s probably back in the City by now. I don’t know, and I don’t really care.”

“Okay.” Lexa said like she didn’t believe her.

“I really don’t.” Clarke reiterated as she held up her left hand to show Lexa the missing engagement ring.

Lexa finally looked her in the eye. “That’s a pretty bold move.” She stated. But internally she felt a small spark of hope.

“Well sometimes bold moves are worth making. Worth the risk.” Clarke explained seriously as she looked Lexa in the eye to show she was telling her the truth.

Lexa faulted. “I don’t… I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Clarke looked over Lexa’s shoulder and something caught her eye. She took a step around Lexa and approached a table filled with Lexa’s carvings all polished up and on display.  
“You’re auctioning them? That’s great!” She congratulated with a smile. She was proud of Lexa. Lexa had the talent, she just lost her confidence somewhere along the way, and seeing her putting herself out there and allowing others to see her sculptures was a pretty bold move too.

She took a deep breath and turned back to Lexa. “Look, I didn’t want to come here at first. Like I really didn’t. I wanted to… shut down the part of me that missed my dad. But then, I met everybody here. And I met you. And it made me think that… even though there are some things that you can’t get over, maybe it’s easier… if you’re not alone. If your with someone that you… that you trust.” She gulped at the last statement knowing that she had broken Lexa’s trust, but she would do anything to gain it back.

“You know, you can’t…” Lexa was confused and didn’t know what to say. She then realised that they were drawing an audience standing near them they looked over the auction items. “Lady we’re trying to run an auction here, so if you’re not interested in bidding on something, maybe you should hit the road.” She finished coldly gesturing to the exit.

But Clarke was not going to be discouraged, she was going to fix things with Lexa, the girl meant too much to her to not even try. Looking over at the table they were standing by she noticed a familiar little bobble head Santa figurine. She smiled shyly. “Wow… What’s this worth?” She asked as she held it up.

Lexa was trying to be strong and hold her ground, but she couldn’t help but grin a little. “A gift expert once told me at least a million dollars.”

“Sold.” Clarke smiled brightly. “Gift expert huh?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

Their attention was drawn once again to the stage as Gustus stood up to talk to the crowd.

“Thank you everyone for being here tonight and thanks to all of you who’ve donated to the silent auction and for making this Christmas in Snow Falls so special for so many people.” 

The room broke out in applause.

“And now, before we continue with our festivities, I would like to bring out Mrs Claus to read a very special Letter.”

Gustus took a step back and held out his hand for a tall dark woman in a Mrs Claus suit to come join him from back stage.

“Merry Christmas Everyone! So this letter, it’s… uh… it’s from an old friend of our town. She wanted to make sure that I read it here tonight. It’s dated December of this year, and it goes like this." Indra cleared her throat so she could project her voice.

_"Dear Indra _” Mrs Claus looked up directly at Clarke.__

__“Aunt Indra!” Clarke gasped as she realised for the first time who was standing in front of her._ _

__“Well the time has come old friend, for me to step down as Chief Executive of Home & Hearth Gifts, and with your blessing I want to present someone who I think would be the perfect candidate to take my place. My daughter… Clarke. I’m sending her up to Snow Falls incognito so she doesn’t get any special treatment but instead, gets some first-hand experience with our hometown and the wonderful people in it. I’d love for her to learn about the important things that started us off on the right track: Tradition, Friendship and Love. Because those are the most important things that we could ever give each other. __  
_Merry Christmas!” ___ __

__

__

____Clarke was in awe. She ran up to Indra and gave her a giant hug._ _ _ _

____“Congratulations Clarke, It couldn’t happen to a finer young lady.” Indra whispered into her ear._ _ _ _

____Clarke shook her head in disbelief. “So that’s why you stayed away? To let me get to know everyone?”_ _ _ _

____Indra nodded “And to let them get to know you. The real you without big old me and your mom getting in the way.”_ _ _ _

____“But I left. How did you know I’d come back?” Clarke asked._ _ _ _

____“We didn’t know.” Indra answered honestly._ _ _ _

____Gustus walked up to them. “We had faith you would. And I’m sure glad you did.” He said as he pulled Clarke into a bone crushing hug. He was so proud of the girl, and so happy that she had come back._ _ _ _

____“Let me tell you, nobody is gladder than me. Otherwise I’d have made the trip for nothing.”_ _ _ _

____Clarke turned around at the familiar voice and saw her mother making her way to the front of the crowd._ _ _ _

____“Mom!” Clarke shrieked as she ran up to her and hugged her with all her might. It felt like there had been something between the two of them that had been forcing them apart, but whatever that was it was gone now and Clarke was just so happy to be here in her mothers arms._ _ _ _

____“I’m sorry I didn’t deliver the Christmas letter myself” Clarke apologised a little tearfully._ _ _ _

____“Oh honey you have nothing to apologise for. First of all, you couldn’t have delivered it even if you’d tried. I pulled a bit of a fast one and… sent it on ahead to Indra myself. Just so she’d know what was going on.” Abby grinned mischievously as she winked at Indra._ _ _ _

____Clarke burst out laughing “Why don’t you guys just call each other?” she asked in exasperation._ _ _ _

____“Because we have recorded every single important step in our lives in those Christmas Letters and this is one very important step.” Indra answered seriously._ _ _ _

____“Besides, delivering the letter wasn’t the real test. The real test for you was… winning over all these wonderful folks.” Abby informed her with a smile as she gestured to all the people in the room._ _ _ _

____“And win them over you did.” Gustus confirmed proudly._ _ _ _

____As soon as Indra had returned from her cabin Gustus had approached her and demanded to know what the story was with Clarke Griffin and why she had needed to lie to his niece. Once Indra explained everything he had accepted that Clarke was indeed not out to intentionally hurt anyone and had made peace with what she had done, He only hoped that his dear niece would be able to do the same._ _ _ _

____“Anyone who can get me to donate a free product…. Is a pro.” The Apple store clerk shouted from the crowd and everyone cracked out laughing._ _ _ _

____Clarke nervously took her moms’ hand. “Hey mom can I show you the auction?”_ _ _ _

____“Sure honey.” Abby smiled encouragingly._ _ _ _

____Clarke proudly showed Abby around the various tables explaining as she went. “They’re all from local shops. They’re one of a kind gifts.” Then her gaze settled on Lexa’s sculptures. “They’re really beautiful stuff.” She concluded with a small smile._ _ _ _

____“Wow, you did this?” Abby asked as she gestured to everything._ _ _ _

____Clarke nodded. “I did. I was thinking next year, maybe we could do some sort of special collection of one-of-a-kind gifts from the town where it all began. Maybe call it: With Love, Snow Falls.”_ _ _ _

____“An excellent idea miss Chief Executive Officer.” Abby agreed proudly. “But let’s talk about work tomorrow morning huh? It’s Christmas Eve.”_ _ _ _

____Clarke couldn’t agree more, and she was desperate to get back to Lexa. “I think someone wants to see you.” She nodded her head in Gustus’s direction and saw her mother blush just a little._ _ _ _

____Clarke watched her mother head on over to Gustus and they started to dance._ _ _ _

____“Excuse me.” Clarke turned around to see Lexa smiling at her a little nervously. “Now, I know you’re the famous or should I say infamous ‘Party Girl Griffin’ but I was wondering if you would perhaps do a local girl the honour of a Christmas Dance?”_ _ _ _

____“The honour’s all mine.” Clarke stated with a wide smile._ _ _ _

____Lexa held out her hand to Clarke and pulled her closer. Clarke’s body fit Lexa’s perfectly and together they moved to the music as one as if they were the only two people on the dance floor._ _ _ _

____Clarke let herself enjoy a few glorious moments dancing in Lexa’s arms before she looked pulled back a little and looked at Lexa nervously. “I am so sorry that I lied to you, I never meant to hurt you. It was killing me having to keep the truth from you.” She apologised._ _ _ _

____“Don’t” Lexa said and Clarke grew disheartened before Lexa quickly continued. “Don’t apologise, I should be apologising to you. When your idiot of a boyfriend-“_ _ _ _

____“Ex-boyfriend” Clarke cut in._ _ _ _

____Lexa grinned at that. “When your idiot of an ex-boyfriend told me who you were I closed myself off and let my anger take over before even giving you a chance to explain. I thought you had an agenda and were just using me. I let my past insecurities with Costia get the better of me and believed the worst in you, letting myself believe that I didn’t know who you really were. But I know who you are. You are a klutz, and a hard worker even though you can’t clean a room to save your life. You make the best cookies I have ever tasted. You have a ridiculous clothes sense, but you will run out into a snow storm to help a man you don’t even know. You have the biggest heart.” Lexa smiled sincerely as she brushed a lock of Clarke’s hair behind her ear. She left her hand there and looked into Clarke’s eyes. “That is who you are and a different surname doesn’t change any of that.”_ _ _ _

____Clarke couldn’t breathe. The butterflies in her stomach were going insane and when Lexa slowly leaned in Clarke puller her closer, heart expanding in her chest, threatening to explode with the joy and relief and triumph she felt as her emotions finally caught up with her reality. Fireworks exploded beneath Clarke’s skin when their lips finally met. Clarke couldn’t believe how incredibly soft and luscious Lexa’s lips were and she couldn't help but melt into the kiss, pouting a little when Lexa pulled away eventually._ _ _ _

____“Clarke Griffin does this mean I can finally take you on a date, because I would really like to get to know more about you, and I want to do this right.” Lexa asked with a small smile._ _ _ _

____Clarke laughed quietly and nodded as she lent in for another chaste kiss. Pulling back she looked back at the beautiful kind woman standing in front of her and couldn’t believe how grateful she was that her mother sent her on this crazy mission. A mission that started so she could claim her inheritance and ended with her gaining so much more._ _ _ _

____The End._ _ _ _


End file.
